What's on Your Mind
by Achamo
Summary: Who can Enzan and Meiru trust? Not Black, hacker and seemingly proud villain. Not even their fellow Net Saviors - there's a traitor in their midst, and heroes around the world are disappearing one by one. And certainly not the Irregulars, a strange new group of Sharan terrorists. But what of their friends...?
1. Conference

"Meiru."

Her limbs didn't feel like they wanted to move. Before she could slip back into sleep, someone grabbed her shoulder and shook it. She groaned.

"Meiru, people are starting to arrive."

People were starting to...

"Let her sleep, Enzan-kun," Meijin's voice said somewhere above her. "She's been running around all night making sure the security team's briefed and ready..."

It all snapped back into place. The Net Saviors' Conference, three months in the making. Reassuring everyone and their superiors - Kifune and Manabe included - that this was the best and fastest way to ensure their culprit's capture. Getting as many major companies to participate as they could, so it would look as genuine as possible. Testing the locks, positioning the security, planning out what to do in every situation they could think of. If it went wrong, all was lost; but if it went right...

Sakurai Meiru's eyes flew open. "It's starting - ow, ow, ow..." She clutched the back of her neck with both hands as it told her exactly what it thought of her falling asleep at a wooden table in the lobby. Once she'd regained full use of her neck, she turned to see who had come in. Three men in suits; they were probably just here for the defense technology. They didn't look like Net Saviors.

"I think we've got a few minutes before everyone shows up, Meiru-chan," Roll said from above her. She wasn't surprised to find her Navi standing on Hikari-hakase's shoulder, her arm around her boyfriend's shoulders and vice versa. Rockman looked a little pink in the face, as usual. Some more businessman-looking people came in, and Roll turned her head to ask Rockman, "I guess you and Hikari-hakase are going to go talk technology, then?"

"Looks like it," Rockman said as the newest group spotted Hikari-hakase. Roll jumped off the scientist's shoulder to rejoin Meiru. "See you later, Roll-chan!" With that, he retreated into his PET in the interest of professionalism.

While Hikari-hakase walked off, another person walked in. His plainclothes look stuck out compared to all the men in suits, but what caught Meiru's attention was the wary look on his face. "Must be a Net Savior," she said. The man was walking around, probably casing out the place. Meiru didn't blame him. There hadn't been that many Net Saviors worldwide to begin with, only fifty or sixty total, but now they numbered in the twenties.

"Not many people so far, are there?" asked a woman.

"I wouldn't expect many this early." Meiru got to her feet, looking over to see who had arrived. A portly, balding man and his younger assistant, both dressed in suits, joined the group at the table.

"Ah, Commissioner Kifune!" To the woman accompanying him, she said, "No, they've been coming in at a much slower rate than the defense people, Manabe-san."

"But they will come," Enzan said. "As a matter of fact..." He looked toward the doors. Meiru followed suit to see five or six Net Saviors walk in, including a few familiar faces.

Manabe smiled. "Good, good. I think we'll be able to begin soon, don't you?" After giving the two Net Saviors a wink, she turned to their companion. "I would think you'd be back at the Ministry, Meijin," Manabe said. "Who's going to be in charge with both Hikari-hakase and you absent?"

"We've got one of our new assistants standing guard - he's proven himself to be quite capable. I'm sure it'll be safe." Meiru and Enzan exchanged glances. Neither of them were fond of the new assistant in question - Ramsay Montaile, originally from Kingland. Meiru couldn't understand how someone could take a man with such an obnoxiously large and curly mustache seriously, and Enzan just found him obnoxious, period. His favorite mode of greeting someone, crushing the life out of his victim's hand with his meaty one as he laughed loudly enough for everyone in the Ministry of Science to hear, hadn't won him any points. But in Meiru's case, it was more than that. It seemed like there was something about him under all the bluster that wasn't quite genuine. She wasn't sure if Enzan felt the same way, or even what it might mean besides either trouble or that she needed a break once this mission was over.

"Well, as long as Nova keeps quiet, I doubt there'll be any trouble," Kifune said. "Now, I am interested in this defense exhibition you and Enzan-kun cooked up. Are these exhibits... well, real?"

"Of course," Meijin said. "In fact, if you'd care to have a look..." The two adults left the table, leaving Meiru and Enzan to watch the people milling around in the lobby. A new crowd had come in: a number of businessmen, a pair that were obviously Net Saviors, and three or four people that looked more like college students. Next to her, Enzan was scanning the room.

"I'd say we've got about twenty Net Saviors so far," he said after finishing his headcount. Pointing out the students, he added, "One of that group might be as well, but it's hard to say."

"That's about as many as we expected," Meiru recalled. "Time for Phase One." She and Enzan slipped into the crowd, looking around at who all was here. There were more suits than Saviors; Enzan and Meijin had made the 'exhibit' side of things a little too convincing, in Meiru's opinion. But it did make the Net Saviors easy to pick out. There was Raoul, who definitely wasn't a suspect; on the other end of the room was one of the other Ameroupian Net Saviors, whose numbers were starting to become scarily low; taking a drink from the vending machine in the corner was a Net Savior from Choina, one of the few countries other than Japan who hadn't been hit as hard by the perpetrator. Lack of cases stuck out more than lots of cases, but both were suspicious. "I guess we should just pick somebody, huh?" she said, starting forward.

"Hey." Someone grabbed Meiru by the arm, and she gasped, startled. She turned to see a sandy-haired man dressed as if he was going to go mountain climbing; his khaki pants and long-sleeved shirt were both made of durable material, and the vest he wore had plenty of pockets. "You're Sakurai and Ijuuin, aren't you? The two responsible for leading me to my death."

Between nerves and tiredness, Meiru couldn't think of a good retort. Luckily, Enzan was there to shoot back, "Not unless you're guilty. Have anything to confess?" The man's eyes narrowed.

Before he could start an argument, their conversation was interrupted. "Aw, Austin!" A tanned woman with an Australian accent and wearing board shorts with her fitted T-shirt walked up to the two. "Y'don't have anything to fear from those two! They wouldn't hurt a fly!" She eyed them with melodramatic suspicion, eyes ridiculously wide. "At least, I hope not..."

"I doubt he can help it, Marina," said her Navi, materializing on her shoulder. She was a study in blue, from her scaly tail to the layers of flat strips that made up her ponytail. The only other accents on her, like her sleeves and the pattern on her helmet, were white. Disdainfully, she said, "After all, Commandoman's probably spouting off potential dangers as we speak!"

"I don't like your attitude, young lady!" barked a voice from Austin's PET. Commandoman resembled a tank with arms and a head, colored in the tans and browns of desert camouflage. He only got louder as he continued on. "This here's a perfect death trap fer all of us! Open doors, only discreet security-and I have _never_ trusted anything to security tryin' to be discreet-tickets available at the front office-anyone could get in here! And the danger's only _worse_ for an unprotected woman!"

"Would you get your Navi to stop yelling?" Marina said, unimpressed. "I think it's giving poor Meiru a headache." She flicked some of her blonde hair behind her ear. "And just because you think I'm pretty doesn't mean I'm defenseless. I _am_ flattered, though."

"Commandoman's right," Austin said. "The only one safe here is the culprit." To Enzan and Meiru, he said, "Somehow, I doubt you two got into the Net Saviors on Netbattling alone. And even if you did, I find it hard to believe you'd be so stupid." Meiru itched to blurt out the plan, but Enzan caught her glance just in time to stop her.

"Oh, right, and running around stirring up people's nerves is going to solve all our problems! Come along, you two." Marina put an arm around each Japanese Net Savior's shoulder and steered them away. Meiru was thankful for the excuse to leave. "We'll go catch up over here, without the nutter."

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Spying didn't have to involve holding uncomfortable positions for long periods of time, maintaining absolute silence, or even getting physically close to the spy's target. For example, Black was carrying out his surveillance while stretched out on his bed, the radio turned up and prime for singing along with.

"...and when she rides with the others on the subway, singing, don't turn around, wa-a-oh... Der Kommisar's in town, wa-a-oh... And if he talks to you and you don't know why, they say your life is gonna make you die..."

_"At least one of us is enjoying himself,"_ muttered a voice into his earpiece.

"If it makes you feel better, this'll be the ultimate target for him," Black said, one finger tapping against the side of his laptop to the music as he looked at the monitor. Through it, he saw what Punk did; a whole lot of boring, at the moment. Net Saviors young and old were milling around the lobby, waiting for the exhibit hall to open its displays of new Net defense systems that developers the world over were working on. He spotted Meiru and Enzan talking to Raoul while his target slipped from group to group - admiring his work? Deciding who to take next? - saying hello to some, but mostly keeping his distance from everyone. "All of these Net Saviors in one place. How can he resist?"

_"But I still don't think this's the best approach," _Punk argued, keeping his voice down so nobody sharing the network with him heard a disembodied voice coming from his direction. Black had installed a cloaking device onto his Navi for his trip to and from the convention center, shielding him from sight and most forms of security, but his voice was still perfectly audible. It would be silly if Punk had to confront their target and wound up playing charades to get his point across. _"I've yet to hear the plan in the event that he _doesn't_ pull a runner."_

"The old man wanted this done _now_, and I'm not dumb enough to go stick myself in a crowd full of Net Saviors. And as for that second problem, I'm thinking about it." Black spotted something and laughed. Midorikawa Kero had cornered Meijin for an interview, and the scientist looked a little nervous. Black doubted that he'd been expecting a reporter to worm her way in, but his interview fright was quickly fading away. He seemed to be building up to an entertainingly bold declaration of how the Ministry of Science was better than ever, or something; the sound didn't carry that far into this section of the Internet, so the whole crowd's noise was just a low hum to Black and his Navi. "Have you seen the Navi?"

_"No."_ Smugly, Punk said, _"He's probably ditched him, just like I said. That Navi sounded like the goody-goody type, anyway. If I were going to start kidnapping Net Saviors, I wouldn't want that sort around."_

Black frowned, bringing a window out of hiding and typing in the criteria he knew the Navi matched. He'd done it many times before, with no luck. There were so many Navis in attendance who shared those attributes that finding - or not finding - the one he wanted was nearly impossible. However, the more he tried, the more he had a sinking feeling that Punk was right. "He might be in some hidden server..."

_"Found 'em. Checked 'em. Admit it, you're dead wrong."_ Black sighed and brought up his Punk's-eye view again. The target looked over at Enzan and Meiru-would he dare approach? If anyone there could sniff him out, it was those two-before some other Net Savior engaged him in conversation. He remembered the first time they'd met, both on business, and all the times they'd worked with each other on missions afterwards. He knew this man, or had known him, at least.

"He wouldn't."

_"He has. You may not find Navis replaceable, but most guys like you do."_

Part of Black wanted to cling onto the image he'd had of the target, but that small part was firmly quashed by his voice of reason. People changed in his line of work, or weren't even showing their true faces in the first place. At least, he knew he was a far different person from when it'd been his first day on this job. "Okay. I admit it." No Navi to track meant different orders for Punk; almost thinking aloud, he commanded, "Find out which room he's in and take a look around. If you can't get close enough from the Internet, hijack something from the exhibit hall, steal some RC thing, I don't care. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if having him be found mysteriously poisoned isn't the right way to go..."

_"You think your field agents could find his base?"_

"Our field agents can find anything, trust me." Still, his superior wouldn't appreciate having to send them. Grudgingly, he said, "But I'll come up with another plan."

_"Well, while you're thinking that over, I'll go check the room list."_ Punk left his spot and entered the tunnel that would take him to the front lobby just as unnoticed as he came.

* * *

Hello and welcome to What's on Your Mind. It's come out much, much later than I'd originally planned, and I apologize for that. I'm not really in the fandom any longer, the shine's kinda fallen off this project (all these years, writing _one fanfic series_? What was I _thinking_?) and I seem to have misplaced my beta reader. (Not his fault - he's under a lot of stress right now.) But I figure I owe the final parts of this series to the few who have read and enjoyed my fics in the past. If you're one of those people, this one's for you.

If you find yourself confused at any time, reading String Theory and Grand Championship is recommended, in that order. And if something comes up that's _not_ covered by those... give it time, and all will become clear.


	2. Situation

It had been an hour since the conference had begun, and though they'd been surprised by a couple of late arrivals - it seemed they were going to have a full house after all when it came to Net Saviors - nobody had slipped up in conversation. Luckily, Meiru and Enzan were prepared for that. "Do you think we've missed anyone?" Enzan asked.

"Not as far as I can tell," Meiru said. "You think we should - oh, wait!" Coming towards them was a familiar, green-clad figure. "Laika!" she called, waving. Though they'd never worked together in Meiru's years as a Net Savior, she still remembered the Sharan Net Savior well. When it came to tactics and strategy, Laika was second to none; and though he could sometimes seem cold, his bravery and dedication had proven themselves time and again. She was glad to see him - they could use someone like him when it came time to force their mysterious kidnapper into submission. Other than a larger hat and shorter hair, Laika seemed the same as ever to Meiru. He even towered over her a lot like he had when they were kids.

To both Japanese Net Saviors, he said, "It's been a while, hasn't it..." To Meiru, he asked, "Sakurai? You've grown."

"Well, yeah! The last time you were in town..." Upon remembering, Meiru sighed, "Wow... Before Netto's funeral, wasn't it?"

"I was starting to wonder what happened to you!" Enzan said, jokingly. "You should come by more often. Once we've sorted out the kidnapping incidents, I'm sure you could be spared long enough for a visit to Japan."

"I'd be happy to take you up on that." Laika sounded a little tired as he said, "It's going to be such a relief to have the kidnapper locked up at last."

"It must be scary for you," Meiru said, concerned. "Are you... I know you're not doing all right over there, but..."

"I'm doing all I can to keep the Net Saviors of Sharo safe as their Chief. Which basically means keeping myself safe, since I'm the only one left," he said with a self-deprecating smile. Neither Enzan nor Meiru returned it. "At least the Irregulars' activities have been limited. They wouldn't be much of a concern, but the way things are now..."

"If you ever need help, just tell me and I'll do what I can," Enzan said.

"Same here!" Meiru added.

"Thank you. But I've heard you've started to see disappearances as well...?"

Meiru nodded, sadly remembering, "Yes. Misaki-kun disappeared at the beginning of summer."

"What's more, that throws out a lot of our theories." Enzan looked to be on the verge of starting to pace. Meiru was even more worried for him than she was for Laika; she knew how much stress this was putting on him. He explained the problems that Meiru had heard stated too many times. "At first, we thought it was through the Internet, but there's no way to get Dimensional Area components over the Japanese islands without us hearing about it. They can't even be carried into Japanese ports by boat. Either they're using a different method to get to us, or we've been totally wrong this entire time and we're back at square one."

"That is odd. Perhaps there's some detail that no one's been able to find so far. If anyone else vanishes from Japan, feel free to call up myself and Searchman," he said solemnly. "Still no suspects so far?"

"We're thinking it's a Net Savior or someone close to the program," said Meiru. "They obviously know a lot about us, and nobody's noticed anyone following them or behaving oddly, so that's the only way."

"I see. And I'm sure that's part of what this meeting is about."

"Yes," Enzan said. "There have been many separate investigations, but it's time for us to pool our resources and find the solution together. The measures we've been taking obviously aren't working, and time is running out." For most Net Saviors, like Laika, that was where the current state of things began and ended. It was only the Japanese branch of the Net Saviors that knew the primary goal of the conference was to lure out the culprit.

Laika folded his arms over his chest. "Agreed. I've got a few theories of my own that might interest the other Net Saviors. But what if the culprit is one of us? You can't expect the perpetrator to simply surrender when we begin discussion."

"Of course not," Meiru said. "We're both keeping our eyes and ears open, and I'm sure everyone else is as well. And we know a few of the people here already, like yourself. If the culprit puts a toe out of line, we'll know."

"Glad to hear it. Knowing you two are on alert puts me more at ease." Laika said, "Well, I ought to be taking a look at that defense technology." He took a few steps into the crowd of people. Enzan and Meiru had already returned to scanning the room when he surprised them both. "Good luck narrowing down your list of suspects. I hope for all of our sakes this trap of yours snares the right man."

Meiru and Enzan watched his figure until it completely disappeared into the sea of people going in and out of the exhibit hall. "Poor guy. Sharo was where the disappearances started, wasn't it?"

"I'm sure he's being careful. But it'll only be a matter of time before the kidnapper decides to finish the job in Sharo." Enzan's hand curled into a fist at his side. "We've got to find our culprit..."

* * *

**A/N:** So if I say the update schedule is "a day somewhere around the weekend" and "a day somewhere around Wednesday", that really just says a chapter could happen at any time during the week, doesn't it? oops.


	3. Operation

"Well, nobody's acting suspicious," Meiru said. She and Enzan started heading for one of the smaller conference rooms near the back of the convention center, which had a lock on its doors and a large _DO NOT ENTER_ sign.

"Time for Phase Two," Enzan said, plugging in Blues. The lock registered him and opened.

"You just like Phase Two because it's your part of the plan," Meiru said, grinning.

He opened the door as Blues returned to his PET. As they stepped in and closed it behind them, he smirked back and said, "Come on, as long as they don't know, it's foolproof." Meiru flicked on the lights. They weren't using that much of this room; all they needed was four computers.

"We should've taken over one of the offices," she sighed, looking at the large room. Meijin, Yuuichirou, and Manabe joined them as she said, "It would be a lot more super spy than having all this blank space behind us..."

"And this lighting isn't dramatically dark at all," Meijin said. "In the movies, they're always in some tiny, dim, spooky little place."

"Let's get down to business," Manabe said firmly. "For heaven's sake..."

Enzan, Meiru, Meijin, and Yuuichirou each took a seat. "Plug in, Blues! Transmission!"

"Plug in, Roll! Transmission!"

"Plug in, Gateman! Transmission!"

"Plug in, Rockman! Transmission!"

As soon as the four Navis touched down, they got to work. The computers were picking up hundreds of different signals; those of every PET in the conference center. With the proper poking and prodding, they were like a window into those PETs, showing what coding was inside the devices. That told the Navis what programs were running and what sort of Navi was residing there. They were checking for anything out of place, anything that would render an unlucky Navi or Operator helpless. Nobody had any doubt that the kidnapper had something on his person to disable the Net Saviors' skilled Navis.

"At least all of the Net Saviors are attending," Manabe said.

"Yep. Nobody to wonder about," Meiru said.

Down below, Roll focused on analyzing the PET readout for a moment more before letting it go. "Nothing here," she reported, promptly starting on another one.

"Papa, do you think it'd be helpful to keep track of the Navis' attacks?" Rockman asked two computers down.

"Certainly," Hikari-hakase replied. "If we find any signs of a struggle somewhere, it'll come in handy." Meiru had been hoping they wouldn't have to resort to the scientists' brainchild, Phase Three. It was clearly their idea, because they would have nothing to do with it: Meiru and Enzan would be keeping an eye on the hotel's network round-the-clock - and postponing the conference's official end - until something happened so they could immediately pounce. Meiru never did well after the first sleepless night, and depending on how patient their villain was, they could be waiting for days.

There was a yell from outside that fell short far too quickly, the lights flickered, and their computers switched to battery power as the power went out. "I have a bad feeling about this," Manabe muttered as the power came back on. "Meiru-chan, Enzan-kun, come with me," she said, getting to her feet. The two Net Saviors plugged their Navis out, then followed her into the hallway.

"It sounded like Austin," Roll remarked from Meiru's wrist. The three arrived on the scene to find nearly every Net Savior crowded around the reception counter's ports. Just as Roll had said, Austin was missing. Meiru and Enzan needed no prompting to plug in as well.

Roll and Blues landed in the center of more control than chaos. Nothing looked out of place except for the colorful array of Navis scouring every nook and cranny of the system for evidence. The two Navis did a slow trip around the digital room for themselves, senses on full alert. But neither of them said a word - there was nothing to say. Even Roll's antennae, usually such an aid when it came to locating data, were doing her no good. The only thing they noticed was obvious; Commandoman wasn't among the Navis on the hunt. Roll and Blues came to a halt next to Splashwoman. "What's going on?" Roll asked the other girl.

"No idea," Splashwoman reported. "Commandoman was here at some point, but he just plugged out without doing anything. Otherwise, we can't find anything out of place."

"What have you searched for so far?" Roll asked. "There must be something he was trying to do..."

Blues said, "I doubt we'll find any clues in the atmospheric data; it's too easy to tamper with. What we want is tracks."

"Searchman's specialty..." She quickly looked around the room. Now worried, she turned back to the other two and asked, "Hey, where _is _Searchman?"

"You can't register him, Roll?" Meiru asked, concerned.

"I sure haven't seen him... Blues?" Roll asked.

"Same here," the red Navi said. Both Navis concentrated, Roll spreading her antennae again to pick up as much as she could. Their Operators looked at each other. Neither one of them liked where this was going. Meiru looked up to see that Laika was part of the mob of Operators, just as she'd thought; but he wasn't even pretending to be monitoring anything on his PET. He had his hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable.

"He hasn't ever been in here, as far as I can tell," her Navi said, calling her attention back to the scene inside the network.

Blues finished his analysis seconds later. "She's right, Enzan-sama."

Meiru and Enzan turned to Manabe, who had been watching close by. She said, "I hope you're not suggesting what I think you are." Still, she stepped back from the crowd and got everyone's attention. "Please return to your rooms for the moment," she announced. "We need to do a check of the system."

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Nothing screamed 'suspicious' like the inside of Laika's PET. Searchman couldn't have possibly fit in it; the original OS had been gutted and replaced by strings of data that seemed almost random to the humans' eyes. "They're all system commands," Blues said.

Rockman was giving it a look as well. "Connecting this to another PET would compress the Navi's program into an inert file and store it away in Laika's PET. The Navi's PET would then have its settings reverted to look something like this..." He displayed a text file of code.

"That's the way Alia's PET was - the state it's in at purchase," Enzan said.

"That's much more extensive than what we first thought," Manabe noted. "Nobody would ever get anything from a PET like this. Meiru, Enzan..." She turned to the two teens.

"We know where we're going," Enzan said. "Time to get some answers."

* * *

**A/N:** and once again this is much later than I wanted, life decided it wasn't going to give me time to look this over. I don't think that should happen again this week, but think is the key word there.

Welcome back, MI3! I was hoping you'd see this - you've left so many reviews in the past that I wouldn't want you to not see the whole fic. :) Also, thank you to everyone who's favorited or followed.


	4. Runaround

Enzan and Meiru had run to find out where Laika's room was; then, keycard in hand, they went to confront him. "He can't be behind this," Meiru said. "I'm sure there's some reason he's helping them..." Enzan was in disbelief himself. What on earth could make Laika, of all people, do this? "We just need to talk to him."

_"I told you, I don't know! Shut up and leave me alone!"_

"What if he won't tell us?"

Meiru stopped and looked at Enzan, baffled. "What are you talking about? He's still Laika. He's a friend - you know that even better than I do. He's got way more to fear from the mastermind of this thing than us, and he probably knows it."

Enzan nodded. "Right." He wanted to believe that. But he couldn't banish that doubt, or that memory. They were at the door, a welcome reprieve from those thoughts. He knocked. Silence. He tried again, calling, "Net Saviors!" Still nothing. He swiped the card, and the door swung open.

"Nobody's in here," Meiru said. She sounded relieved. Enzan didn't blame her. He was looking forward to accusing Laika of all this even less than she was. The more he thought about it, the more he was able to tell himself there had to be some mistake. Perhaps Laika was being forced to do this - he was the last Net Savior left in Sharo, after all. But that was suspicious in itself. He couldn't make up excuses - he had to face the cold facts, no matter where that led to.

"What's going on up there?" It was Meijin, checking in on them through the PET's videophone.

"He's not here," Enzan explained. "Think we should take a look around?"

"Go for it. Report back as soon as you can - I'll see if I can't figure out where he's gotten to."

"The sooner you find him, the safer we are," Meiru said. "Good luck."

"You too," Meijin said, and closed the connection.

The room was tidy, almost sterile, which didn't surprise Enzan. Laika had always been organized. He saw where to start right away: the laptop on the desk. Almost in tandem, he and Meiru pointed their PETs at it. "Plug in!"

Roll and Blues landed in total darkness. Blues wasted no time booting up the system. From there, he and Roll pulled up windows and started searching. "Just like Rock said," Roll realized, closing her window and accessing the memory. "Meiru-chan, send Meijin an email with this attached," she said, pulling out a large file.

"You got it," Meiru said. "Nice work, Roll." The file folder vanished from Roll's hands, and soon Commandoman was safe on his way to Meijin.

"See anything else?" Enzan asked the Navis as they continued their search.

"Not in the obvious places," Blues said, "but I wouldn't expect him to make it easy for us." What Enzan found odd was what they weren't finding. He would have expected more security, but he and Meiru had easily been able to start digging up evidence.

"There isn't that much on here, is there?" Meiru noticed. "No wonder the security's so low - he really travels light..."

"I'm going to give it another minute, but I think we're about done here, Meiru-chan," Roll reported.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Roll and Blues turned to see five or six Net Savior Navis enter the computer. Floating over them was a window displaying Laika, smiling like a cat that had just caught dinner. "Looks like a pair of Irregulars have come to attack when my defenses were down."

Some of the Navis stepped menacingly toward the two, angered; but there were others looking from Laika to the so-called Irregulars in confusion. "There must be some mistake," one of the Navis said. "Those are the Navis of the Japanese Net Saviors. They haven't even been to Sharo while the Irregulars have been attacking."

"A perfect ruse," Laika said. "Commanding the forces from afar, so as not to raise suspicion. They're in my computer - need I say more?"

"Yes, because what we've found makes you our prime suspect in the kidnapping and Navi disappearance cases," Blues said.

"Don't be ridiculous," another of the Net Savior Navis said. "Laika may not be the friendliest man on earth, but he's a second-to-none Net Savior. He's no criminal."

"Then why does he have to send you guys after us?" Roll asked. "Where's Searchman? Isn't it Netbattling that guarantees someone a spot in the Net Saviors?" Now all the Navis had stopped.

Enzan and Meiru had joined the conversation. "That's right," Enzan said. "Why would he get rid of Searchman - unless Searchman refused to cooperate?"

"Refused to -" Laika scoffed, "Like I'd 'get rid of' my own Navi -"

Enzan continued, "And what on earth would an upstanding Net Savior be doing with a PET like yours, Laika? One that can't even _hold_ a Navi?" The green-haired Net Savior's eyes narrowed. "Well?"

"I won't let them fool you any longer. Requesting a Dimensional Area!" Laika barked. The other Navis looked at Roll and Blues - some skeptical, some apologetic - but did nothing to stop their Operators from plugging out. "Enclose everything from the second floor of the hotel up to the roof. We'll lock them in."

There was that familiar rising _swoosh_ of the dome going up, but it was another noise that caught Enzan and Meiru's attention. "He's sending viruses in!" Meiru yelled, but it was too late; the communications had been cut with the Dimensional Area's closing.

"Plug out," Enzan said, returning Blues to his PET. Next to him, Meiru did the same. They didn't have to tell each other to run - they were bolting for the door the minute their Navis were back, crashes sounding behind them as the Metools fired a first round of Shockwave attacks.

"If we lie low for a while, I bet Meijin will be able to get hold of whichever base sent that Dimensional Area out," Meiru said as they dashed down the hall.

"Besides, it's not like we can fight off this many," Enzan agreed. "This way!"

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Neither Net Savior had a good feeling after two hours had passed and they were still hiding from viruses in the same broom closet. "It shouldn't be taking this long," Enzan said.

"But almost none of the Net Savior bases use Dimensional Converters anymore," Meiru sighed. "So there's still nothing we can do... This sucks!"

"Oh!" Roll's hologram lit up the closet. "Meiru-chan, there's a call coming in..."

"Same here, Enzan-sama."

"It's Meijin-san! He's trying to get through. We'll help stabilize the connection!"

Static was all that showed up on their screens. Then, a pixelated blob that might have been Meijin appeared. "Mei...an! Can you...me?"

"You're barely getting through!" Meiru said.

"Just a moment..." Meijin's face became clearer and smoother on their screens.

"Much better!" Meiru said. "What's going on?"

"Rockman and Gateman can only keep this up for a short amount of time, so listen up. Laika's using something along the lines of Dimensional Converters to power this Area. Wherever he's gotten them from, it's not a base the Net Saviors have approved. We've been trying to find it to tell them to deactivate the Converters, but nothing so far."

"Where's Laika?" Enzan asked.

"We don't know that, either. It's chaos out here-people have heard you're behind the disappearances, other people are saying your Navis are Irregulars; Yuuichirou, Manabe, and the Net Saviors who've managed to keep their heads are trying to talk them down." There was a flicker in the connection before Meijin said, "You need to find and destroy those Converters as soon as you can, because I don't know when we'll be able to send help." They were starting to lose the connection already. "Good...luck -"

"We've lost him," Blues informed the Net Saviors.

"Doesn't matter. We know what we need to do," Enzan said.

"Let's split up. There'll probably be one on either end of the hotel, so we'll be able to get it taken down faster," Meiru said.

"Good idea," Enzan said. "I guess now's as good a time as any." With that, they left their cover and sprinted for the elevators on either end of the hallway.

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"Well, well, well. You're just giving the game up, Laika! I expected a little more fight from you." Black was typing rapidly.

"Those Converters gave you that much?" Punk asked.

"You bet. Calculate the trajectory, find the satellite, trace the signal, aaaand..." Black took his fingers off the keyboard to give them a creepy twitch and cackled, "I know where he lives!" He dropped the act as he continued working. "Or I'm about to."

As his Operator got back to work, Punk said, "Thought you'd be more worried about those two Net Saviors."

"No use worrying over it - it's out of my hands. You pretty much have to be in the Dimensional Area to get rid of it. Close works, too, but it's in Ameroupe and I'm all the way in Japan." There was a ping from the computer, depositing numerous pieces of information onto Black's screen. "Ah-ha! I've got your number now!" He grinned. "Punk, how do you feel about Sharo?"

"I dunno. Cold. Large."

Black shrugged. "'Kay. How do you feel about beating the shit out of some Irregulars?"

"Now, that sounds like a vacation."

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"Found it," Meiru panted as she skidded to a halt in front of a cylinder alive with blue, glowing energy: the Dimensional Converter. "Now I just have to take it out..." She looked around at her surroundings. Though she was in pretty good shape, she knew she couldn't throw one of the huge, heavy potted plants with enough force to break the gleaming cylinder in front of her. And there was nothing else in the hallway. She looked up at the Dimensional Converter. "Maybe..."

"Oh, aren't you a cute Net Savior!" Meiru turned around and saw a bizarre, long-necked Navi clad in green and yellow floating in the air. The floppy petals framing her face fell forward as she curtsied and introduced, "I'm Optic Sunflower, your chauffeur for today."

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Enzan ran down the hall as fast as he could, not even bothering to waste time looking back at the viruses coming after him. "Blues, how close am I?"

"Take a left here and you'll be right on top of it, Enzan-sama." Sure enough, the familiar hum of a Dimensional Converter grew louder as he turned the corner and headed toward it.

He looked around for something to crack the blue cylinder's tough exterior with. "Nothing. Guess I don't have a choice..." He waved his arms at the viruses wandering into the hall. "Oi!"

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The bells on her staff's leaf-like tips jingled as she summoned it. "You're going for a little ride!" Optic Sunflower giggled as she sent a spark of electricity at Meiru. The teen shrieked as it hit her, then fell silent as she lost consciousness. Optic Sunflower was there to catch her before she fell. "Let me take a peek," she told her victim, lifting the PET on her wrist closer.

"Who are you?" Roll yelled as Optic Sunflower began to push buttons. "What do you think you're -" The PET-confined Navi was forced into sleep mode. Optic Sunflower let Meiru's arm drop; the PET on her wrist was worthless to her now.

"All right, take us back," the girlish Navi called. Blue waves of energy swept them up, and they disappeared into the air.

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He quickly dove out of the shockwave's path. Enzan looked up and smirked - the Dimensional Converter was sparking after the hit it had taken from the viruses. The shriek of the receding Dimensional Area was followed by the viruses' disappearance from the velvet carpet. "Looks like Laika has a lot of property damage to own up to," Enzan noticed, looking around at the dents in the walls and the broken pots along the hall.

There was a long moment before Blues said, "I can't believe Laika-san would ever do something like this."

For a moment, Enzan's thoughts went to another person he'd met recently. "A lot can change in a few years," he said bitterly. He shook his head. "We'll see what his reasons are when we've caught him. Let's find Meiru first."

"I'll call her..." The silence from his PET was enough to tell Enzan something was wrong. "I can't find her PET, Enzan-sama," Blues said. "If it's still nearby, there's no Navi inside it."

"Damn it." The elevator was still working. Enzan hit the button for the ground floor with the side of his fist. "Blues, tell Meijin we need a plane to Sharo."

* * *

**A/N: **Gasp! Continuity between the fic parts! If you've forgotten the bit of italicized dialogue Enzan's remembering at the top of this chapter (and I wouldn't blame you, it was posted a while ago), take a look at chapter 22 of Grand Championship.

Also, I've been watching that horrible Marvel Disc Wars thing. If you're a fan of the comics or the movies, you'll appreciate its terribleness. In fact, you may appreciate it more if you only know the movies, because then you won't know who the Wrecker is and it'll make episode 2 look even worse. But I bring it up here because it's got bonus unintentional humor for EXE fans: it features, unusually enough, Mitsuki Saiga voicing a hot-blooded shonen lead character. (In other words, Enzan acting like Netto.) It's also noteworthy for followers of this fic in particular because Kaori Mizuhashi is the Wasp and sounds a lot like older Meiru probably would. So... in short, it's the best kind of awful, check it out.


	5. Sharo

There were a lot of certainties about the situation Enzan found himself in. Laika was certainly the ringleader; Meiru was certainly in danger; Enzan knew he was certainly the best man left for the job when it came to knowing the enemy. But every time he tried to think about Laika, and the Sharan's considerable intelligence and knowledge of tactics, and what sorts of traps he'd have to look forward to avoiding, and whether or not Searchman's absence meant his Synchro Chip was unnecessary, he just found himself asking, "Why?"

"Enzan-sama?"

"Nothing," he told his Navi quickly. He hadn't realized he'd said that aloud.

Blues crossed his arms. "If you're this worried, it isn't nothing."

Enzan took a long, slow breath. It didn't make him feel any better. "I've just been thinking, Blues. About - well, everything."

"You can't help either of them unless they want to be helped, Enzan-sama, we both know that very well."

"I know... I know. But I can't just do nothing, Blues, they're my -" _Were_ they his friends? Were they ever his friends like he was their friend? It seemed like it had been so long ago - Enzan, Laika, and Netto, the strongest of partners, fighting together against whatever evil the world wanted to throw at them. It _had_ been long ago - over four years. Had all that time made him see those memories in a brighter light than reality? "I just wish I knew where it all..." But there was no point asking that question; he already knew the answer. Remembering it was like a stab in the chest. "Why did we stop looking?"

"Enzan-sama..."

"Blues, why didn't we keep looking?"

"There were two other people whose remains were never recovered. It is very likely that all three bodies were in some part of the subway system that the Net Police hadn't discovered; at least, that's the official story."

"And we never found them. We never gave those families real closure, we just wrote those people off and hoped they'd go with it!" Enzan recalled, furious. "They could've needed help - of course they were going after Netto, he was -"

"The other two missing victims were a retired schoolteacher and a bank teller. They had nothing in common with each other - it was completely random. Enzan-sama, there was no way you could have known. Please don't blame yourself." Enzan nodded, forcing composure back on his face. Miserable as he felt, there was a job to do. "We don't know enough yet," Blues added. "Once we know the cause, we can find the solution. And don't forget who else is waiting down there."

He was right. Meiru couldn't fight Laika alone. If any of the Net Saviors before her were any indication, she was depending on him. And if she wasn't his friend, he didn't know who was. "Thank you, Blues," Enzan said, managing a smile. He looked out the window; down below, snow was falling. "Almost there," he said. "Now, the real work begins..."

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Enzan almost couldn't believe he'd landed at Sharo's Net Savior hub. It looked as if it'd been abandoned for months. Dust stirred around his shoes as he and his guide walked down the hallway.

"I'm sorry you have to see it like this," the blonde scientist said. Some of the lights were beginning to dim and flicker above them, and it was clear that nothing had been cared for in some time. "The janitorial staff won't work here. Everyone's been afraid for so long."

"He started his kidnappings here, didn't he, Cossack-hakase?" Enzan asked. "No wonder they were scared - Laika didn't just go after Net Saviors at first."

Cossack shook his head when Enzan named the culprit. "I just can't believe that Laika would do this," he said. "What does he have against the Net Saviors?"

Enzan shoved his hands in his pockets. "Not much to it, I'm sure. We're threats to any criminal. Who wouldn't want us out of the way?"

"But - yes, you're absolutely right, but still -" Cossack protested, "Everyone respected Laika. He had everything - talent, position, everything - on his side. Why throw that away?"

"I'm sure I'll get him to tell me sooner or later," Enzan said. Cossack flinched. The Net Savior was careful to sound a little warmer when he next spoke, not having meant for his tone to be so cold. "Do you have any idea where he could be?"

Cossack shook his head before swiping a card through the least dusty slot in the building. His lab was a little cluttered, and thick layers of dust were settling in the less-used corners, but it at least looked like someone was working here. The one knickknack that wasn't sporting some dust was a framed but slightly faded picture of a blonde, wavy-haired four-year-old. "Sharo is a massive country. He could be in the middle of the city; he could be hundreds of miles away, in the middle of nowhere. I wouldn't suggest going off on your own, especially around this time of year. If you could just wait for the spring -"

"That's nearly half a year away. This can't wait any longer," Enzan said.

Cossack sighed. "I haven't heard anything from Laika since he attacked you at the conference. He's probably at his main base - wherever he's been taking his kidnap victims to, I'd guess - but we have no idea where that is."

"He's turned his PET off?"

"Yes," Cossack confirmed. Enzan knew that was probably the first way Cossack had tried to find Laika's location, but he had to be sure. Reluctantly, the blonde scientist said, "There are trucks here equipped to make it through the ice and snow that you can borrow. And supplies are available in town. But I just don't like sending you out there alone." He handed Enzan a slightly dusty business card from his desk. "If you do decide to go through with this, keep me and your commander in Japan informed about your location. I'll provide whatever help I can."

"Thank you, Cossack-hakase," Enzan said. The scientist took a large keyring out of his pocket and turned back to his desk, unlocking a cabinet stuffed full of small envelopes labeled with numbers.

As he shuffled through them, he explained, "They're safer in here with me. Nobody's manned the desk they're supposed to be at in months..." He found the envelope he was looking for and locked the cabinet up again. "Follow me."

They took an elevator down to a lower level - the garage, even dirtier than the hub it serviced. A few civilian cars were parked nearest the exit. Enzan found it easy to pick out Cossack's station wagon - it was the only clean vehicle. The rest were covered in dirt and dust, and had to have belonged to some of the kidnap victims. Cossack led his guest further back, where a fleet of gray trucks stood out against the dark concrete walls. Closer up, it was clear that they were meant to be white.

They stopped in front of what was probably the best-looking of the trucks. "Use this to travel to your hotel, please," Cossack said, taking the key from its envelope and handing it to Enzan. The Net Savior had a feeling Cossack knew he had no reservation and no intention of booking a room. "I don't want to hear of anyone else vanishing in Sharo." With that, Cossack left, his footsteps fading as he went out the door and further down the hall.

"We're going off on our own, aren't we?" Blues said after Cossack was out of earshot.

"We can't sit around and wait for him to be found. Look at how long it took us to figure out he was behind this," Enzan said, opening the door. He shut his eyes against the cloud of dust this produced. As he got in, sending up a smaller cloud, he said, "He'll probably have repurposed some abandoned warehouse or factory for his purposes. We'll search until we find him."

"I've compiled a list of possible locations, Enzan-sama. I'll display them right away." A map of Sharo appeared in midair, with fourteen dots scattered on it. "Very few of them are near each other. At worst, we could be looking for a month."

"All right." He tried to think of the best way to cover that much ground. Sharo really was huge, but with transportation and the proper supplies it was conquerable. It had to be, for Meiru's sake. "Considering where this started, we can rule out -" He nearly jumped at the hum of the PET vibrating; someone had sent him an email.

"It's from an unknown sender. Subject line is..." Blues fell silent in a way that, Enzan had found over the years, usually suggested he was trying to soften an insulting message.

_Do you even know where you're going, dumbass?_ mocked the email when Enzan took a look for himself.

"Open it."

_That was rash of you, just up and running without even figuring out where Laika is. It's not like you. Try not to get yourself killed._

"Enzan-sama, these coordinates..." A satellite image replaced the message. Most of what it showed was white, but a few gray skeletons of what had probably once been fences or other buildings surrounded a still-standing building with a brown roof. As Blues spoke, the brown building was highlighted by a yellow filter. "It's an old military base, abandoned around ten years ago. It'll be a four-hour drive from here."

"Then let's get started," Enzan said, putting the key in the ignition and turning it.

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Meiru opened her eyes to see blue. The room she was in seemed to be like a blue box - blue walls, blue ceiling. From what she could tell, there was no door. She sat up to get a better look, surprised that her head didn't seem to mind at all. She had expected a bit more protest from her body, considering she'd been given a bad enough blow to miss coming in here. Encouraged by this, she decided to try standing. In the process, she found a blue floor to go with everything else and discovered that her clothes were gone; instead, she wore a skintight black bodysuit. It covered her hands and feet, though her hair was free. She twirled a strand around one finger as she regarded her prison, wondering what move to make next.

"Guess you're not the kidnapper after all." Meiru turned to see Austin sitting in the corner of the room, dressed in the same bodysuit she was.

"We found Commandoman on Laika's computer," she explained. "He's safe with Meijin."

"That's fine and all, but what about us?" Austin asked. Despite his words, he looked a little relieved at the news. "We don't have long. This is a holding cell, Sakurai. Some other guy was getting dragged off when I woke up. I've been here for a while, and he hasn't come back."

"Then we need to get out of here," Meiru said. "Do you know where -"

"- the door is? Sure, but I can't force it open," Austin said. That reminded Meiru that they were in enemy territory; they were probably being listened in on. She walked over to Austin and dropped to a crouch, prompting him to talk more quietly. "We must be in a Dimensional Area or something - those guys who grabbed that first fella were like beasts! There was one like a penguin, another like a tiger..."

"The one who got me was Optic Sunflower," Meiru recalled.

"Does he shock people to sleep?" Austin asked.

"She, and yes."

"Well, _she_ got me too, but I didn't even see her." Austin said, "The Dimensional Areas this guy's got are insane. I didn't even know one was up until I was waking up here."

"I've never heard of anything like that," Meiru said, amazed. "Aren't there laws against that sort of thing?"

"Here in Ameroupe, yeah. Some places like Kingland and Creamland let you have walk-in Areas, but even they're required to tint the affected space at least one color. And they're pretty easy to detect."

Meiru remembered, "The alarms! We had those all over..."

"And they were useless, yes."

The redheaded Net Savior sighed, "Wow... Hikari-hakase and the rest'll go nuts over this. We've got to escape and warn the others."

Austin shook his head. "Nah, you got us into this mess. You'd better see what you can find out there."

"Austin -"

Before Meiru could protest, the Ameroupian said, "Can it, Sakurai! We don't have much time. Here's the deal..."

* * *

**A/N:** Aaaaaaand more continuity! The first four chapters and the last one of String Theory are the most important in terms of overarching things, but you can read the whole fic if you want, it's only nine chapters long. Looking back at the last author's note, I like how I was so confident I would get this posted last fall. "Barring major tragedy," indeed.

YAY YOU'RE BACK MI3 yeah, if I were writing a plot like this now, I'd definitely do more with Meiru and Enzan being accused than "welp okay let's have a quick action scene and then it's time for Laika's base." It doesn't help that I had just realized (back in 2010, wow this fic is old) how slowly paced the front ends of Neo Alliances and Grand Championship were, and decided to ratchet the speed way up for this one. (If I say anything other than "Meiru is going to start doing awesome things next chapter," I'll spoil myself.) Laika will also be explained very soon, much sooner than I could've strung it out for. :P


	6. Symbiosis

Just as Austin had said, the wall opened to admit the two guards. Neither the golden, tiger-like Navi nor the squat penguin bothered to close it. Also as Austin had predicted, they completely ignored Meiru slumped over near the entrance, eyes shut. In addition, they had a struggle on their hands to distract them; Austin was putting up quite the fight, and the Navis were reluctant to rough up their prisoner before taking him to their leader.

Meiru was out the door before Austin was even close to exhausted. Just like the two Net Saviors had been banking on, the Irregulars had never had to contend with two people at once. She only wished she hadn't had to leave Austin behind, but he would be fine as long as she was fast in finding an exit and making it back to civilization to warn the Net Police.

It was only when she reached the end of that train of thought that she started paying more attention to her surroundings. This hall, its floor made up of large black tiles with red lining them, was sparsely populated. The static taps of her feet were the only sounds to be heard, a noise that was low enough in quality to sound unnatural yet familiar enough to remind her of footsteps. The taps a Net Navi's feet made while traveling the Internet.

The realization made Meiru's mind go blank with shock. As an experiment, she put a hand over her chest. She had no heartbeat. Somehow, the panic started her running faster.

As she ran, her initial reaction subsided; it wasn't long before she could take stock of what it all meant. There was probably no way out for her. Laika wasn't dumb enough to not set up a firewall, and any warp panels out would probably set off similar alarms. After peeking cautiously up the stairwell to see if anyone was coming or going, she ascended the stairs two at a time. Her priority now was finding a way to send a message out, and possibly a place for her to hide after that task had been carried out.

She quickly ducked her head out of sight after peering into the next room. It was obviously the base's center. Net Navis with animal-inspired designs went from one hallway to another; but there weren't many of them, and she felt like she stood a chance of getting through to the other side. Not many Irregulars were bothering to go through that opposite door, further bolstering her confidence. After a shark-headed Navi crossed the room, she took a breath and sprinted for the opposite door.

"Oh? What was that?" wondered Optic Sunflower's voice as Meiru stumbled to a halt. She was in a dark room with plenty of nooks and crannies, some fragmenting away. "That was a foot! I know it!" Meiru's black bodysuit acted as camouflage here, letting her duck behind a corner and into a pixelating dent in the wall before Optic Sunflower had even come in. The floating pixels covered her face and hair perfectly while letting her get a decent view of the area she'd arrived in. From her left came the humming of the plant-like Navi; to her right was a cylindrical chamber surrounded by windows. Inside the chamber floated a young teenager with mint-green hair. He was wearing the same bodysuit she was. His eyes were closed, but there was no mistaking that nose. "You're in here somewhere, Net Savior!" Meiru was starting to become impatient with Optic Sunflower's search. Couldn't the Navi just leave so she could see what a younger double of Laika was doing in here? Fortunately, Optic Sunflower was just as sick of it. "Come on!" she whined, floating past Meiru's hiding spot. "Come on-come on-come on - oh, fine!" The long-necked Navi floated back toward the door. "Don't think I'm running away - we've just got someone else to find! Just you wait!" she called. "I'll be right back!"

Meiru had no intention of staying long enough for the Navi to return. She ran over to the chamber. Up close, the person inside was obviously Laika from his days as Netto's friend. She wanted to believe he was somehow the real deal and not just a copy. It didn't make much sense for him to be this young, but there was a lot about this experience she found confusing.

In front of the chamber was a control panel. Meiru instinctively reached for the largest button on it, but recoiled after she saw what the label above it said: _Emergency Rele_ase. In her experience, most things with 'emergency' on them came with complimentary alarms - the last thing she needed right now. "There must be some other 'release'," she muttered. None of the other buttons were labeled. On the one hand, her time was limited; on the other, there was no telling what a button would do to Laika inside. The windows weren't any help. They just displayed lots of squiggles, which made no sense to her untrained eye. "Here goes," she said, and pushed a button.

Whatever force had been keeping the young Laika suspended abruptly shut off. Meiru winced as he crashed to the ground, his face squashed out of shape by the digital glass. She pushed the button next to it. There was a faint chime, but Meiru couldn't see anything happening. The button after that lit up the entire room, and Meiru quickly hit it again to shut it off before it could draw much attention. Going in order was obviously not working. She skipped down two rows and over one. "Cross your fingers, little Laika," she said, and pushed it. She held the breath she didn't need to take as the glass-like substance vanished and the teen inside fell forward. She looked around at the windows, which continued producing the squiggles even as she took Laika by the shoulders and tugged him into the middle of the room.

The seconds ticked by. Meiru sat on her knees, watching Laika's face for any sign he was waking up. She was starting to get nervous - it had been a while since Optic Sunflower had left, and she didn't doubt the Navi was going to return. After glancing behind her, she looked back down just as Laika stirred. His eyes opened, their usual sharpness lessened by the confused look on his face. He stared up at her, obviously suspicious. "It's me," she reminded him. "Sakurai, remember?"

He continued to stare at her, now with disbelief coloring the suspicion. Just as girlish giggles began to echo down toward them, something clicked for him. He sat up, exclaiming, "Sigma!"

"Sigma?" echoed Meiru.

"I heard that!" crowed Optic Sunflower from outside. Meiru got to her feet, then grabbed Laika's hand to help him up.

"Bad news coming," she told him. "We've got to get out of here!" The Net Savior and her new companion sprinted for the next room over as Optic Sunflower cackled behind them.

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Laika's base was a four-hour drive from the military base that served as Sharo's Net Savior hub. It gave Enzan plenty of time for unwelcome thoughts, all of which were quickly shunted out of his head. He'd never paid such complete attention to the road in his life, which became necessary after it started showing signs of disrepair. A few dodged potholes later, he was in front of a large and run-down looking building. "Here I am," he muttered, getting out of the truck and slamming the door after him. "Come and get me, Laika."

But Laika wasn't there when he cautiously inched the door open and quietly walked inside. The other man didn't seem to be using the room, at first glance. It was large, but there was nothing here but the piles of rubble one would expect from a building so decrepit. Enzan doubted that was all there was to it. Ready to run if he heard the sound of weaponry coming alive, he gave the dark room a second look.

Enzan almost didn't hear the first disturbance of the silence. "Phone call coming in," Blues reported, "unknown -"

_"Hi, Enzan!" _came Black's voice from the PET.

"What the - keep it down!" Enzan snapped. Black wasn't sending over any image to go with his voice, leaving Enzan's PET to display Blues as it normally did. "I'm in Laika's -"

_"Laika knew you were here the minute you set foot in his base,"_ Black informed Enzan. _"Luckily, the Dimensional Area doesn't start until you get closer to his office, so there's time for me to warn you about everything."_

"You sent me the coordinates, didn't you?" Below, Blues was holding up a string of code, which shifted into a simpler number. After his Operator gave him a nod of approval, he stored Black's number away in Enzan's phonebook.

_"Yes. But that isn't important. Now, you've actually got less to worry about from Laika's lackeys and more from his security system. I can keep down whichever room you're in pretty easily, so as long as you keep going he won't know where you are. But it'll take a while to force the whole thing offline, and you seem impatient. I'd suggest you wait for me to give you the all-clear before going through any doors, unless you think you can survive two or three machine guns firing on you?"_ Without giving Enzan time to answer, Black continued,_ "I thought not. Anyway, with me around, what you really have to worry about are the Irregulars. I'm sure you've heard about them. A few minor cases of terrorism here and there, and suddenly they're some 'terror of Sharo,' _w_hich is kinda ridiculous, I think. Well, they're his, and they number about eighteen at the moment. He likes to keep four out in the inner sanctum, two patrolling an outer line and two to randomly pop around and surprise people. Don't bother plugging in until you're in his center office; it'll otherwise set off an alarm, and poor Blues'll be smothered under the other fourteen in a heartbeat. But you're some way away from that, so I suggest you just get moving and leave this to me. I'm sure Laika's started wondering what's going on down here." _

Enzan couldn't say he was pleased with the arrangement. "That sounded oddly thorough coming from you," he said.

_"If I can do anything right, it's spout off information! It's part of my job,"_ Black said. _"Or it was, then one thing led to another and here I am beating up on little kids."_

"You have different tasks?" Enzan asked, weaving around piles of scrap metal as he headed for the other end of the room. He was a little more glad Black had decided to lend a hand after he got a closer look at some of them - there was definitely a gun barrel poking out from under at least one pile. "You didn't sound that organized. Even after that kid's confession -"

_"Teruo? He doesn't know shit. Anything he says is useless if you're trying to pin us down. Anyway, Atsuki's meant to be field, and I'm mission control. He doesn't know I'm doing this, by the way, so don't tell him. He already doesn't like you - and we're getting off topic! Don't go through that door,"_ Black said as Enzan reached it.

"Wasn't planning on it," the Net Savior said.

A few seconds later, Black said, _"All clear."_ As Enzan walked through to see a slightly more organized-looking room, his guide cautioned,_ "Stay close to the left wall here, or you'll trip a sensor. There's a door on that side you should take, but it might be blocked off. It'll lead to a hallway that's full of guns, but I've got their number after the last couple of rooms' worth."_

The room was full of tubes and liquids, and the smell of rotting meat. Whatever was still in the tubes had gone a murky, opaque green with age. "What is this place?" Enzan wondered. It was even more unsettling thinking that this was all Laika's.

_"They look like - growth chambers?"_ It was a little reassuring to Enzan to hear that Black sounded just as disturbed as he was. _"What the hell is Laika doing with those?"_

"Probably something like what you're doing helping Nova," muttered Enzan.

_"Hey! That's completely different," _Black protested.

"Is it? Because all I see are a pair of traitors." He tried to see what Laika was trying to create, but it was impossible. The liquid was too thick, and he didn't dare try to touch the glass around it.

_"Look, I didn't know about Laika. He's got nothing to do with me. I don't like this any more than you do, his Irregulars... he's become a monster. He's so _different_..."_

Enzan thought Black talking about 'so different' was pretty ironic. "No kidding."

_"What's on those papers?"_ Enzan looked around. _"That desk to your right,"_ Black directed. There were a lot of papers, of varying ages. The ones closest to the top didn't look that old, but they were still coated in dust.

"Brainwaves. Brain patterns," the Net Savior reported. "And -" After seeing what was further down in the stack, he looked back over at the murky tubes, then returned to the papers. "He's trying to clone people, but modify their brains, I guess. Do you know anything about this kind of research?"

_"No. No, that's odd. That's definitely..." _Static rattled down the connection as Black sighed. _"Keep going for now." _As Enzan reached the door, Black called, "_All clear!"_

This was another laboratory. It looked similar to the last one, only cleaner and with better lighting. Despite what the papers implied, there were no embryos floating in tubes here; in fact, everything looked completely unused. "Is he planning on starting his experiments again?"

_"He... might be. I'll have to see if we're right..."_

"About what?"

_"That's classified."_

Enzan felt a twinge of annoyance. "Since when do you keep secrets?"

Black at least seemed a little cowed as he pointed out, _"You know we aren't on the same side, Enzan."_

"Aren't we? What are you doing helping me if we're not?"

Black was silent the rest of the way through the room. _"All clear. Why don't you just drop it?"_ he asked lightly. _"It's obviously upsetting you, and it's a distraction to boot."_

Hearing that only made Enzan angrier. "If our roles were reversed, would you be able to forget it?"

_"Anger doesn't shake me,"_ Black said, irritation slipping into his voice.

"Can you ignore Laika up ahead? Is he just a target to you?" Enzan didn't get an answer. "Well?"

_"No, okay?!"_ Black blurted, overtly upset at last. _"But I have to dispose of him! This has to be done! He's -"_ The connection suddenly went quiet. If Enzan hadn't already figured out he'd struck a nerve, what Black said next confirmed it. _"You're not supposed to understand," _he said impatiently.

It hurt to hear that - it made it clear that Enzan was to be kept in the dark, tantamount to rejecting any help he might have given. It just hurt more to know that another conversation like this one would be waiting at the center of the base. Enzan's expression hardened. "Well, someone should've told me first. Or maybe you should've taken the proper precautions, so this wouldn't be a problem." Enzan forced a sardonic smile onto his face. "But go ahead. Why shouldn't I understand?"

_"I can't tell you,"_ Black said, sounding almost childishly upset. _"Please don't talk like that. I don't -"_

"You don't like it? You, of all people?" Enzan almost laughed. "You deserve everything that's going to happen to you," he said coldly. "You never meant a word of it, did you? Not the way I thought you did. Everything I ever saw in you turned out to be a bunch of meaningless words and empty actions - well, you don't fool me any longer." He looked down at his PET, its display unhelpfully devoid of any signs of being tampered with. "I don't know how you've opened this connection, but I suggest you close it. I don't like keeping secrets from my fellow Net Saviors - and the longer you stick around, the less inclined I feel to do you any favors."

He strode across the room. The silence wasn't satisfying at all; it was just more frustrating. He nearly made it through the door before Black said, _"Wait." _ He sounded close to tears. _"Just - a minute..."_

"You heard me," Enzan said. Just because he was angry didn't mean he was about to disregard the security Black had warned him about; he peered into the room, looking for something that resembled a port.

_"Enzan, this isn't what it looks like,"_ Black said. He sounded tired, like he had that night at the tournament; tired and old and nothing like the friend Enzan had once known.

"Then what is it?" he asked, wishing Black would just stop talking.

_"They're disabled, go ahead."_ Enzan was nearly across the room by the time Black started explaining. _"You're right, Enzan. I failed. I wasn't good enough."_

Enzan's initial anger was beginning to be replaced by concern - and some confusion. Whatever was going on, it was clear he wasn't getting the whole story. And irritating as that was, if Black was keeping him in the dark for a legitimate reason, it made the situation that much more worrisome. "What do you mean?"

_"I lost,"_ Black said, somewhere between careful patience and grief. _"I couldn't be what you thought I was, or what I wanted to be."_ More hopefully, he said,_ "But you can. And so can Meiru-chan, and those kids. In fact - y'know, really, I'm glad you hate me. You're just like you were before - I'm so glad."_

"Hold on," Enzan protested. "Whatever's going on, we can help you-"

_"You don't have to worry - I'll take care of things. Just don't give up, okay? Keep doing what you usually would."_ Enzan got the feeling Black wasn't really listening anymore. Just what was wrong with him? If he'd 'lost' to the point that they were where they were now, why did Black seem so convinced that he could handle things when he probably couldn't?_ "If it gets too dangerous, I'll make sure nothing bad happens." _

Enzan stopped at the door, considering his next move carefully. Black had been right, in a sense; they both needed to calm down and focus on the task at hand. But Enzan couldn't give Black the answer he wanted to hear, not honestly. One person alone couldn't be expected to stop the machinations of his - employers? Captors? Another question without an answer - and no matter who those people in command happened to be, Enzan intended to find out just what was going on before letting Black take matters into his hands alone. But he needed to say something for now. "You want us to do nothing."

_"It's the only plan I have. It's the only thing he won't notice."_ Black sounded miserable and nervous enough for the both of them. _"Please, Enzan, you have to understand…"_

Enzan sighed; the idea he was getting wasn't the best, but it would certainly work for now. "There you go again."

_"Huh?"_

"First you say I'm not supposed to understand, then you say I have to. It's those kinds of contradictions that got you in trouble with me in the first place." Enzan didn't like misleading Black when the younger teen was this distraught, but it was preferable to this conversation dragging on and them both getting caught by Laika's Irregulars because of it. "I'll make you a deal," Enzan said. "So far, Nova's crimes have been more-or-less confined to the Internet - nothing major has affected our world on a large scale. So long as you keep it that way, I don't see why I have to pay any more attention to you than I would any other criminal." There was still the threat of action, and it wasn't so simple that it seemed poorly thought out and unlike his kinds of plans.

That sort of caution was all assuming Black wasn't hoping to be let off the hook. _"So you wouldn't go after me?"_ Black asked, a little too eager for Enzan's comfort.

"No more than I would anyone else in your position," Enzan said; it wasn't a complete lie.

_"Okay!" _Black said quickly - a little too quickly. Enzan almost wanted to ask him to pay more attention. _"Oh - um - you don't have to just stand there, there aren't any more guns. This part's the Dimensional Area one. I should try and be more professional; if I mess this up, you're gonna know real quick."_ True to his word, he sounded a lot less rattled when he spoke up again._ "But... about Laika - my superior wants him to stop his activities as much as you do."_

That took Enzan by surprise. "Really? What does this have to do with Nova?"

Black managed a single laugh, too clipped for Enzan to believe. _"Outsiders don't get to know all our motives and operations,"_ he teased, singsong. _"But I can say my superior thinks this whole kidnapping thing has gone far enough, and that gives us a common goal. I need to give Laika some bad news, and you have a Meiru-chan to rescue. We both need in that head office, one way or another."_

"Don't you have a Navi to get you in the normal way?" Enzan asked, skeptical.

_"The office network's a one-way street. Signals get out and not in unless they're authorized, which I'm not. Besides, you're the perfect distraction. While Laika is wondering where you've gone, Punk is slipping in to bust Meiru-chan out. She's doing great, by the way. Nobody heard us having our heart-to-heart, because they were all busy wondering where she went! Duck into that storage room, there's an Irregular coming."_

The Irregular's feet were clawed; Enzan could hear them scraping against the concrete floor. _"They're almost all animals,"_ Black said after the sound had died away. _"Some of the others think it's a commentary. But I can't tell you why. I'm hoping it's not true."_

"Don't tell me. It's classified," Enzan said, continuing on his way.

_"Afraid so. You're going to have to try harder to get me to cough anything up," _Black said cheerfully. When Enzan stopped next to another door, the hacker continued, _"Go ahead, go through. Not much for me to disable."_ It was a hallway lit by candles. _"I ought to come up with some parting words. You know, to convince you I'm still a bad guy. Let's see..." _

It seemed a bit silly, but Enzan would take silly over talk about some nebulous defeat. It made him wonder what Black was trying to protect him and his allies from, and how the other Netbattler expected to do it if he'd been beaten so soundly. "You could always tell me what's in there," he said, gesturing to the door.

_"Laika is, of course! And nothing else you need to worry about right now. Oh, I've got one!" _With a put-on confidence, he proclaimed,_ "Don't mistake me for a pushover just because I'm not heartless. Just ask Meiru-chan and those little friends of hers - they all know just what I can do when it's no-holds-barred," _he bragged.

"I don't know how you think you can scare me. I've beaten you before," Enzan said.

_"But honestly, our last match would've ended in a draw," _Black countered. Enzan could practically hear him smiling. _"I hope we get to have a rematch. I wasn't at my best back there - when I'm in control of things, you'll lose fair and square!"_

"We'll see about that," Enzan retorted.

_"You're just saying that! You haven't even seen what I can do!"_ he complained. More sheepishly, he added, _"Though, really, I haven't come up with much so far."_

"Typical."

_"Hey, I've been busy!"_ Black complained._ "Oh, yeah! Did you bring a Synchro Chip?"_

"Of course," Enzan said.

_"You'll be glad you did." _When Enzan reached the end of the hallway, Black said, _"Well, Laika's in the next room. Now I get to be all threatening and businesslike on a big screen. It'll be awesome. Plug me in over there, and I'll see you on the other side!"_

* * *

**A/N:** According to some notes I discovered the other day while pulling more of my old thoughts together on a better ending for this fic series, most readers should now know what the deal is with Black. So... do you? (And if you knew before this, when did you guess?) Relatedly, this chapter and the last one are the entire reason I decided to stick a "Drama" in front of the "Adventure". When Enzan dramas, he goes _full drama._

Thanks for the review, MI3! Now that I've done some more looking at this one, I agree, the pacing really makes it; there's only one other thing I consider to be a case of wasted potential, and it would, much like the Laika-at-the-conference thing, just slow the plot down. Thinking of the first two as setup explains a lot about their pacing issues. I remember wanting NA/GC/third Kaita fic to be a continuous story, but all the really important stuff happens either when he's not around or in that last part. It didn't seem like it would be that way when I outlined it, but that's how it fell out.


	7. Exchanges

As Enzan walked through the door, he heard Black tonelessly say from somewhere above him, "I speak on behalf of my superior. He sends his tidings." The speakers on either side of the huge monitor he'd taken over made his voice fill the room; if Enzan hadn't known Black like he did, the effect would've been a little imposing.

"That's nice." Laika's eyes darted to Enzan like he'd just seen an ant crawl into the room before returning to Black. "And who's this, then? Your attempt at creating a diversion?"

"He's not relevant to my message," Black said calmly, a slight echo following his words. "He can wait. I can't."

"Actually, I don't plan on waiting for you two to catch up," Enzan said. "Where's Meiru? What could've possibly made you think this was a good idea, Laika?"

"I don't have time for your questions," Laika said placidly, snapping his fingers. With the unmistakeable sound of data being translated into substantiated form, a purple Navi wearing a helmet like something out of Starpotter materialized. The Navi was armed with a cannon mounted to his back, which immediately was trained on Enzan. He thought about going for his Synchro Chip, but decided against it. He didn't want to break up the conversation right away; if Black wasn't going to tell him anything straight out, perhaps Enzan would learn something about what was going on this way. With someone else keeping an eye on Enzan, Laika seemed to forget all about him as he turned back to Black. "Now. Why is your superior bothering me? I haven't done anything wrong."

"Is that what you think? You've been causing quite a stir, what with all the interests of ours you've endangered. All the scrambling those poor people up top have had to do to accommodate you! Well, they'd all like me to remind you that we had an arrangement, dear sir." He smiled coldly in the face of Laika's stony stare. "You don't seem to have remembered its terms, but I have to ask…"

"You're the only reason I've had a breach. The terms were upheld," Laika said, just a sliver of annoyance beginning to show.

"That's funny you say that. Because from what I've seen and heard, they weren't." Black shook his head theatrically. "They really weren't." With a calm smile, he told Laika, "We've had a lot of fun examining your various projects."

"I never gave you the right -!" Laika snapped, any attempt at a businesslike demeanor forgotten. "Is your problem that I'm undermining the Net Saviors' authority? The Flock hates any sort of authority, including yours, but I don't see you going after them."

Enzan recognized the name, but Black instantly dismissed it. "The Flock is a bunch of thirteen-year-old script kiddies. We see no need to engage with them, and as you well know, we have no reason to believe they know anything of use about us. You're changing the subject." Black's smile turned into a full-on smirk. "Besides, unlike you, they at least know how to cover their tracks."

"You only knew to trace me because you had it in for me," Laika said angrily. Enzan was becoming less and less sure what to think of him. The quick losses of temper weren't like the Laika he'd known at all; then again, he couldn't discount the fact that underneath the demeanor, Black was very much who he seemed to be. And who was sitting there, if not Laika?

"I still did it," Black pointed out. "And with little trouble, too. What if Enzan down there had figured you out, hm? What would you have done then?" Laika didn't have an immediate answer. Black pushed on. "The General tells me they're not happy at all with you upstairs. You're cut off, effective immediately. And we both know what that means."

"If your superior sees me as such a threat, why hasn't he come to deal with me himself instead of sending one of his underlings? You may be a Silver pawn, but you're just a pawn nonetheless." Enzan could hear the capital letter in Laika's voice. What was that supposed to mean? More importantly, why hadn't the Net Saviors heard of anything or anyone important in this discussion? It was all going to be worth researching when he returned to Japan.

"First off, I don't consider myself a pawn. You know those candlestick things?" Laika stared stonily ahead. "No? Well, I'm one of those. Next off, believe it or not, the world doesn't revolve around you. My superior can't be bothered, and I am more than capable. Otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation." Laika's eyes narrowed. Black held his hands up placatingly. "Though, don't get me wrong, it's not really that you're a threat. It's just that you've gone far enough, and we would like you to stop before our technology winds up in civilian hands."

Laika burst out laughing. "Oh, yes, that would be your first concern!" Mockingly, he said, "Who cares about success when your precious technology is at stake! I was never caught!"

Black's eye narrowed. "From what I saw, yeah, you were. You walked right into Enzan and Meiru's trap."

"And then I caught them in it!"

"Meijin and Hikari-hakase would've talked the other Net Saviors over, and you knew it. Calling up that Dimensional Area didn't reflect well on you."

Laika growled, "They were panicked! It would've gone according to plan -" Suddenly, the anger was gone, replaced by a superior smirk. "But of course you'd think that, these days! So logical and unemotional… how you've fallen. Just another inhuman Silver. Congratulations."

"Stop bringing that up. You're confusing Enzan." The teen resisted the urge to glare - it was hard to decide whether Black's patronizing tone or Laika's flat-out ignorance of him was more irritating. "Now. How would you like to do this? You've got numerous options open to you -"

"Your orders are to terminate me," Laika said.

Miffed, Black shouted, "Hey! Don't interrupt -"

"Otherwise," Laika continued loudly, sounding totally unimpressed, "you wouldn't have set a _civilian_ on me."

"_Net Savior_," Enzan put in with the same tone.

Laika's eyebrows shot up. His head slowly turned to face Enzan, with the demeanor of someone looking at gum on his shoe. "Keep your mouth shut in matters that don't concern you."

"After you kidnapped so many of us, including my partner? I think it has everything to do with me. And the fact that it's you makes it even more my business." Enzan wanted to get some answers from Laika. He couldn't just let Black kill the teen without the whole story, and he doubted Black was looking forward to it himself. "Why did you feel the need to kidnap those Net Saviors?"

Laika's eyes slid shut. Enzan watched him carefully, waiting for an answer. Finally, the green-haired man broke the silence. "I have beliefs the world is unwilling to accept. It'll all become clear in the end."

"There's no more 'in the end' to wait for," Black said coldly. "Your experiment is over. It ends _now_."

"Indeed it does... for one of us." Enzan slammed in his Synchro Chip before Laika could command, "Vava, attack!"

Even if the purple Navi was shooting, Enzan couldn't tell; the power of the Synchro Chip surrounded him in a bubble of energy, vaporizing anything that tried to get inside. A pair of boots formed over his jeans and sneakers, the more subtle triangle on Blues' normal bodysuit translated into a large red spike on the boot accented by a smaller yellow one up its middle. Both spikes jutted out of a dark blue jewel. Gloves with matching spikes formed over his forearms. From both gloves and boots traveled a white band of data, converting the rest of his clothes into Blues' black and purple bodysuit. His symbol formed on his chest, with red armor forming around it moments later. After Blues' distinctive helmet formed on his head and a mane of black-and-white hair flowed out of it, the transformation was complete.

"Reflector!" The moment R-Blues had emerged from his energy bubble, a hard hat dropped over him to bounce back Vava's bullets; as he'd expected, the Navi had been firing on him the entire time. "Z-Saber!" He activated the thrusters on his boots to dash forward, catching Vava off guard.

Laika didn't seem worried; in fact, he was smiling as R-Blues delivered a powerful slash to Vava's chest. "Go ahead," he said. "Do what you will..."

0110100101100100011001010110111001110100011010010111010001111001

In the darkness of Laika's network, it was easy to get lost. There were many areas that had been constructed only to be abandoned, lit only by the shining blue data escaping from holes in the floor and walls. On the other side of a clear wall was the outside world, a laboratory of some kind that looked just as abandoned as this part of the virtual world.

It took a few minutes of sitting in complete silence for Meiru to realize that it was a monitor. Roll probably looked out on the world like this every day. She stood and cautiously stepped toward it, producing three near-silent taps. All was quiet down below. It looked like the papers on the desk had been disturbed recently, but it was hard to say. The image flickered, reminding Meiru of where she was - and what she was. Hiding from Optic Sunflower had given her some time for thought, and there was no denying it: she was a Navi now. Trapped in Laika's system, alongside - a backup? The real Laika? They hadn't had much time for talking, since it had taken so long for them to shake off Optic Sunflower. The Navi liked to sound playful, but her speed was no joke. There was no telling if they'd lost her for good or if she was just waiting outside for them to give up the game.

"I think we've lost her," Laika said behind her. "Who was that Navi?"

"Optic Sunflower. An Irregular," Meiru explained. "What are you?"

This seemed to irritate the little Laika. "What do you mean, 'what am I'? I'm a human, just like you."

"I don't know what to believe," Meiru said. "Laika's running around out there, and you -"

"That impostor is the original Irregular," Laika said. "Sigma. What has he done out there? And why are you so old?"

"_What_?! I'm not old!" Meiru protested, wishing she had a mirror - did he think she was thirty, if he sounded that surprised? "I'm only seventeen!"

"That's not what I meant. You just look a lot more mature; the last time I saw you, Sakurai, you barely came up to my shoulders. And now -" Laika stood and walked over to her. She was slightly taller than him.

Now that the immediate crisis was over, Meiru could get a much better look at him than before. He looked just like he had right after that incident with Cache, when they'd all waved farewell to him as he boarded the plane home. "What in the world is going on?"

"Perhaps I should explain my story from the beginning," Laika said.

Meiru could only agree there. "Sounds good to me."

"Condensing it's easier said than done..." After some thought, Laika began, "Recently... well, recently for me, the Sharan Army's Science Labs, which is like your Ministry of Science, finished development on a device called the Pulse Transmission System. It took a human's brainwaves and sculpted a Navi body around them. Basically, the user's consciousness would leave his body for the Internet, though he would still be connected enough to keep up his vital signs. It had been a major project of theirs for years, and they wanted the Net Saviors' blessing once they figured they'd gotten rid of any issues that might arise. I was selected as the first to publicly test it. It more than did its job at first - I went in, said a few words on behalf of the Sharan Army, and activated the trigger to return me to the real world - but there was a design flaw that allowed a Navi to access the Pulse Transmission System from outside and meet the human mid-transmission..."

"And that's what this Sigma did," Meiru finished.

"He essentially changed places with me. He must have made it so my vital signs were linked to him instead, though how he did it without the scientists getting suspicious I don't know. He sent me into this server and took up residence in my body. After that...he must have forced me into a coma."

"You look so young," Meiru said. "It must've been around Netto's..." Laika's flinch was nearly imperceptible; if Meiru hadn't been expecting it, she wouldn't have noticed. "Not long for you, huh?"

"Just a few days ago."

Meiru sighed, knowing her next news probably wouldn't go over well. "It's been over four years."

Laika looked stricken. "And Sigma... What has he been doing?"

"He's head of Sharo's Net Savior force," she said, only now realizing just how much power Sigma held. "And the Irregulars are his... and he's behind the missing - he's been kidnapping Net Saviors from all over the world."

"What have you found?" Laika asked.

"Besides you, not much. There are a lot of Irregulars around, not just Optic Sunflower. From what I've seen and heard, I have a feeling none of them are humanoid. And - that's right! Laika - Sigma - he claimed to be using Searchman, and Commandoman was stored as a file in his computer. The Navi of one of the people he kidnapped," she explained.

Laika thought this over. "So what you're saying..."

"...is there's going to be some kind of room where he's keeping the Navis, yeah," Meiru finished.

"I doubt we have weapons of our own," Laika said. "The Pulse Transmission System was experimental - they hadn't yet gotten to where they could confidently program something like that."

"Then we need our Navis," Meiru said. "And to find them, we need to go back out there." Still, she was reluctant to leave the relative safety of this area.

It must have shown, because Laika pointed out, "It's better than waiting for the Irregulars to find us in here."

"True," Meiru agreed. "I bet they'll be closer to the center of the network, back the way we came." They left their hiding place at a run. As fleeing from Optic Sunflower had shown them, their Navi bodies didn't tire as quickly as their human ones did. And in Meiru's opinion, the less time they spent out of hiding in the Irregular base, the better.

They went past a number of rooms that were dead ends. As they got closer, more and more of the rooms had Irregulars in them, usually performing some kind of task or otherwise not paying attention to the traffic. The Navi-like footsteps of the two Net Saviors didn't alert them enough to look up. Soon, they got back into territory Meiru recognized as being closer to the center. She slowed down, and as Laika followed suit, she cautioned, "Be careful."

Laika was quick to give her a nod of acknowledgement. At a fast walk, they continued on. Instead of turning into the room Meiru had decided was the center, she took a right. This room was wide and dominated by a monitor wall that showed what resembled a throne room. In the seat was Sigma. And there, fighting with a purple Navi in front of him...

"Enzan!"


	8. Crossroads

One after the other, R-Blues cleaved a pair of fat bullets in two with his Samurai Sword, leaving them to explode harmlessly behind him as he dashed toward Vava. The purple Navi hadn't stood a chance under his opponent's onslaught. With a yell, R-Blues brought the Samurai Sword down on Vava's head, ripping through the Navi's body. Vava's two halves fell to the ground, lifeless.

"That's got your bodyguard taken care of," the swordsman said, turning to Laika. "Now, tell me where -" He didn't know what had happened until he was on the floor and Vava was on top of him, showing no signs he'd ever been cut in two.

"You can't just cut me down and expect me to give up! You'll need to go a little deeper than that," Vava taunted, grabbing R-Blues by the head and smashing him into the ground. The knock stung, but it didn't daze him thanks to his helmet.

"That can be arranged." R-Blues threw a punch at Vava, but the larger Navi caught it. His other hand also formed a fist, but this one didn't go anywhere; a many-sided polygon formed over it, and a Long Blade shot out, burying itself in Vava's throat. The Navi gasped, scrabbling at the blade. R-Blues ripped it to the side and out, leaving a long gash behind. With Vava not pushing him down, the red swordsman could draw his legs up to his chest and deliver a solid kick to Vava's purple armor with them, sending the Irregular staggering back. He wasted no time getting to his feet, letting the Long Blade disappear from his hand. "Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword!" Vava was leaning over, still clutching his throat as the Sword and Wide Sword were bonded together into a blue-white beam of energy. With a growl, the purple Navi trained his cannon on R-Blues as he swung downward, creating a wave of light that swallowed Vava whole. By the time it dissipated, nothing could be seen of Vava. R-Blues turned to Laika, who was still smirking.

"You must be thinking, 'There's no way he could come back from that.' However, if you would just turn back around..."

"No way!" Particles were flying through the air, stopping in the place where Vava had been incinerated. Before long, they were knitting themselves into half-shapes and stacks of internal programs. The last hole in Vava had pieced itself together before even half a minute had passed.

"I'm afraid so. You see, as long as I'm connected to the Internet, Vava cannot fall." He showed R-Blues exactly why he'd opted for a larger hat when he removed it. There was a slit cut in its back. Two wires extended from the back of his seat, through the hat, and into two knoblike ports on either side of his head. Enzan had no doubt those ports were attached to his brain. "And as you can see, I'm always connected." He unclipped the hat from the wires with unconcern, setting it to the side, then looked over at his enemy. "What's the matter? You look a little pale. Aren't you going to tell me it's disgusting?"

He got no answer for a moment. "What are you?" Enzan asked.

Laika's face twisted into a smug smile. "Now, what kind of question is that? I'm here, aren't I? My lungs provide my body with air; my fingers feel the smoothness of my armrests… and I remember you so well, _Ijuuin Enzan_. I am nothing other than human, and you cannot ask me what I am unless you're willing to ask yourself what you are. That is, if you live long enough to…" He snapped his fingers, and Vava opened fire.

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"Enzan..." Meiru's hands drew closer to her mouth. Now, Vava was in command; he followed up his onslaught by throwing a punch at R-Blues' head, leaving behind a hairline crack in the spiked helmet.

"We can't tell him," the real Laika said as they watched the Navi in his body laugh triumphantly. "We'd have half the place after us, and we can't fight." He explained, "If we can undermine this system somehow, I bet it'll distract Sigma from - what's he done to my head?"

Meiru felt a little less sad and more disgusted with the distraction. It was a bit like someone who'd had brain surgery - around the two ports, Sigma had completely shaved his hair off. "Yikes. You need to grow that back out." Then, her focus returned to the real problem at hand. "I just don't like leaving him here like this against Vava..." Down below, another Program Advance ripped through Sigma's henchman. He staggered, his torso blown off, then stood still and let himself knit back together. "If there was some way to make Vava disappear..."

Laika clearly remembered something, judging from his exclamation of, "Of course!"

However, Meiru was clueless. "Huh?"

"You remember the first time we encountered Videoman, right?"

"Netto was too angry about it to tell me much. Sorry," Meiru said sheepishly.

Laika explained, "Searchman can disable Dimensional Areas from the Internet. Even with Cross Fusion, Enzan can't hold his own forever against something like Vava - if the fight's between Navi and Navi, he and Blues stand a much better chance."

"I agree."

Meiru turned to see who'd joined them and groaned, "Things've just gotten much worse."

"The feeling's mutual." Punk rested his hand on his spiked hip, letting the other arm trail on the ground. "Now that we've gotten the insults outta the way, this place is on full alert. Irregulars everywhere; lucky for you, I took care of a bunch on my way. Thank me all you want." Meiru just waited for him to keep talking in stony silence. "Black told me to give ya these." With a wave of his hand, two spheres materialized in front of Punk. One was red, the other green. He explained, "They're weapons and armor. Won't get installed into your core programming, so there won't be any harm done to your brains. Not that yours'll be in that great a shape to begin with, havin' that nutcase in it," he told Laika.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Laika asked. "Sakurai's opinion of you doesn't seem favorable."

"That's because he's a criminal and someone who knows nutcases very well, seeing as he and his Operator are both good examples of one," Meiru informed the other Net Savior.

Punk seemed unfazed by the name-calling. "You don't think I'd tell the truth? Then I'll let the results do the talkin'." He whipped his cable arm out and had Meiru entwined before she or Laika could react. With his fingered hand, he grabbed the red sphere and lightly tapped it on her head, where its glow spread to cover her completely. When it faded, Punk let her go. She was wearing a red helmet, vest, gloves, and boots over her black bodysuit, with white armor around her upper arms and thighs. A white gun with red accenting was sitting in a holster resting on her hip. As Meiru looked over her armor, Punk said, "There, ya see? Not lying." He turned to Laika, tossing the remaining sphere in his direction. "We don't have all day! Hop to it!" Laika's armor was identical to Meiru's, only it was green. A sniper rifle was strapped to his back instead of a gun like Meiru's.

"Well, I guess I have to thank him," Meiru said. "How come he's always useful when we're facing a crisis?"

"That's just the way he works," Punk said. "Now, this place is gonna be swarmin' with Irregulars in a second, so you just get a move on an' let me take care 'a business. Right now, you two need to find those Navis of yours."

"Right," Laika said.

Before she left, Meiru turned back to say, "Thanks."

Punk shook his head in exasperation. "Don't stick around. The Irregulars ain't gonna let up on you for bein' nice!" With a quick nod, Meiru joined Laika in running toward the exit.

* * *

**A/N:** I've been so busy over the past week organizing my room and songwriting that I completely forgot about this! How my priorities have changed. Sorry about leaving you hanging, MI3 and other followers of this story! Hopefully you'll bear with me and I'll try and be more punctual, like I was the week before this.


	9. Union

"Eureka."

The search for the Navi storage room had been uneventful. Meiru supposed that was thanks to Punk and Enzan being much bigger threats than she and Laika were. But if the chamber she was looking at was any indication, that was about to change. Searchman's chamber was identical to the one Laika had been inside, only without as many windows around it. She and Laika walked into the room. From what she could see, it was like a library of Navis. On either wall, rows of white rectangles marked with Navi symbols were shelved away. "How did you get me out?" Laika asked, looking down at the bewildering control panel.

Meiru looked down at the sea of buttons, lost. "I have no idea," she said. "Not with the big one, though..." She screamed as something bright, wide-eyed, and yellow dropped in front of her face.

"I knew you'd come here!" giggled Optic Sunflower as she flipped herself back up. "They thought you'd stick with the big guy, just like they thought you couldn't do any damage." She growled, "Well, _nobody_ fools me! I knew the minute you woke him up you'd be looking to cause even more of a disaster, you hag! Do you have any idea what danger you're putting Laika in? This little guy's critical to his plans, and here you are exposing him to the big, nasty Internet!" To the real Laika, she cheerfully said, "Don't worry, sweetie. This is just a bad dream. We'll have you safe back asleep in no time." In a flash of light, her staff appeared in front of her. She twirled it, creating a quintet of bright sparks. "Shining Ray!" The sparks flew forward, leaving a multicolored trail behind them. When they dodged the attack, Meiru and Laika were surprised to find that their jumps took them much farther than they had before the armor, in this case well out of the Shining Ray's path. The two Net Saviors wasted no time in testing out their new weapons as well. From how she screamed as she went flying into the wall, Optic Sunflower didn't seem to like the new defenses her targets possessed.

Meiru took another shot at the plant-like Irregular as she said, "This is great!"

"No, it's not!" Optic Sunflower wailed. "Bright Bombs!" The bulb on her staff spat out a succession of smiling, winged bombs, which floated toward the Net Saviors. They picked off each one. But once they were finished, Optic Sunflower was nowhere to be seen. Meiru cried out as a huge beam of light struck her in the back, sending her sprawling. Laika turned to retaliate only to have another beam hit him in the side. Optic Sunflower flew back into the front of the room. "Not so smart now, are you?" she taunted as Meiru and Laika struggled back to their feet. The bud on top of the Irregular's staff burst open as she cried, "Shock White!" Meiru was knocked back before she could fire, and she couldn't move for a moment afterward - the damage the attack had done was nothing to scoff at. Optic Sunflower zipped by Laika to take advantage of the opportunity without a care. That backfired when he scored a solid hit, making her reel back and leaving Meiru free to nail her with one of her gun's large energy blasts. "Ugh!" She zipped away again. Meiru and Laika kept their eyes open and their weapons ready. "Just stay out of the way for a second, honey - Optic Jolt!" Somehow, she'd reappeared between the two Net Saviors - and much like she'd paralyzed Meiru at the hotel, she had now left Laika immobilized. She rounded on Meiru. "You can trick him into following you, but I can see right through your ugly tricks. They'll wear off soon enough when you're dead, hag!"

"Ever looked in a mirror?" Meiru fired as quickly as she could, but her gun was built for power, not speed. Her enemy flew away from every shot before diving at her, furious at the taunt.

Suddenly, Optic Sunflower winked out of sight - and reappeared right in Meiru's face. She whacked the Net Savior across the face with her staff. The effect was the same as when she'd been knocked out - electricity coursed through her, though she was only paralyzed this time instead of unconscious. "You may have a couple of cute tricks, but you can't change the fact that you're a miserable hag!" The bud on her staff began to glow as she leveled it at Meiru, still paralyzed. "Get ready for the tan of your life! Shock White!" Meiru couldn't even turn away or shut her eyes against it. Just as the bud was about to snap open, Laika stepped in front of her, rifle raised. Optic Sunflower squeaked in shock, quickly pointing her staff away to blow a hole through the ceiling. "What are you thinking, little guy? You've got to go back! It's not safe to associate with ugly girls!"

"I'm not _little_." Laika fired into the plant-like Navi's chest, punching straight through. "And I'm not going anywhere." His next shot left a hole in her head. She staggered backward, dropping her staff.

It was only when Optic Sunflower was starting to dissolve into data that Meiru began to get a bad feeling. The Irregular smiled at them, now more genuine, and Meiru realized that there should've been another way to stop her. "Thank you," Optic Sunflower said. "The alarm's already sounded... use the emergency release..." The dissolution reached her head, and she could say no more. Meiru looked at the spot where she'd disappeared in silence, while Laika went over to the chamber where Searchman slept on.

The hissing sound of the chamber shutting off jolted her back into action. She ran over to the rows of Navis. Her own symbol was near the front. When she pulled on the block, it slid out and revealed Roll in two-dimensional form - sleep mode. The pink Navi was quick to shift into a solid form and wake up. "Meiru-chan?" she asked, amazed. "Where are we?"

"Sigma's network," Meiru told her Navi. "It's a long story."

They ran over to join Laika and Searchman. The latter said, "I've found the location of the Dimensional Area. Let's move!"

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Punk was finally starting to be glad he'd come. Between all the sneaking around and all the talking, he'd been beginning to think the fighting would never come around. He was delighted to see that he was wrong.

He raised his shield with perfect timing as his enemy dropped down from above him. The blue Irregular's stinger squeaked against Punk's shield, but he knew this fight was over. Blast Hornet was sent flying backward with a Vulcan, and Punk hurled his shoulderplates up to finish the job with a yell of, "Double-Go-Round!" The Irregular was cleaved in half, and unlike his comrade below, he didn't recover from it. Once he was sure both halves of his opponent had trickled away into deletion, Punk returned to a ready position, waiting for whatever came next.

It was a lot larger than he'd expected. There was a flicker outside, and suddenly the tiring Net Savior below had fallen out of Cross Fusion and Vava was materializing right in front of Punk.

"Good," Vava said. "Fresh meat."

"I was gonna say the same thing! Imagine that!" A flash of red light at Punk's side signaled the arrival of Blues. "Well, Little Red, I'm sure you'll be draggin' your feet after all that pointless fightin' down there, so if you'll just stay out of my way..."

Vava opened fire, and both Navis dashed out of the way. "His close combat's more of a threat than this attack," Blues reported. He rarely rose to the bait; it was the most annoying thing about him, in Punk's opinion. "I'll be giving my assistance for as long as I feel it necessary." A Variable Sword appeared on his arm, and he sent out a powerful energy wave with it. "Sonicboom!"

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Down below the group of Navis, the Dimensional Converter that serviced the Irregular base was sparking. "What's our plan now, Laika-sama?" asked Searchman.

After a moment's thought, Laika said, "We need to see what's going on in Sigma's room before we can say what needs to happen next."

Before they could get anywhere, a window blipped to life above them. It displayed a scrawny-looking young man with dull brown hair. "Ah, I see you found it! Very good!" He explained, "Whatever's passing for Laika out there has already made my acquaintance, so there's no point holding back. Oh, and nice to meet you, little Laika! Funny seeing you here..."

"I'm not little," muttered Laika. "And that thing out there is Sigma."

Meiru crossed her arms as she looked up at the screen. "So, Black, do you even have an excuse for helping us?" she asked.

"Sure I do. Who are we going to gloat to once Nova's plan finishes if you and Enzan aren't there to lose? The kid and his friends are less victories for us than cakewalks, after all." He said, "Now, I'm sure you're planning on going back and helping with Vava?"

"Of course," Laika said.

Black flippantly replied, "Well, that's totally pointless. You're better off going to the storage room, which'll be much easier if you're following my lead."

Meiru sighed in disgust. "You always say stuff like that."

"That's 'cause it's always true." More seriously, Black explained, "It could be life or death for a number of people. Vava's trick is nothing but a clever piece of programming, but the other Irregulars... Well, they're why I was told to investigate." To Laika, he added, "And depending on what I find, getting you back to where you belong could depend on our search as well."

"That's right," Meiru recalled. "How's Laika supposed to get back to our world? I'm guessing I'm connected with the PTS, but what about him? And those things in his head -"

"I'm telling you, all that will probably be a lot clearer after we go do this," Black cut in. His window started to float forward along a blue line that had appeared on the ground. "This way, please!" A little reluctantly, the Net Saviors and their Navis followed.


	10. Revelation

When they reached the central room, Black sighed. "It's true."

The others were speechless. The storage room was certainly living up to its name. Its pocket of the network was designed with multiple views of the room below, allowing the Navis to get a good look at the many bodies filling the room. They were all sitting in huge, bulky chairs with what looked like metal canopies on top, so no heads could be seen. A cacophony of beeps was coming from the room, muffled by the distance between reality and network. Meiru didn't recognize what the chair machines were, but Laika did. "They're all hooked up to PTSes," he said.

Meiru looked around at them all; she could see uniforms, jeans, a denim skirt and blue cardigan... It was her own body. She stared down at it, transfixed. She was completely limp down below, not moving when she clenched and relaxed her hand up above. Next to the PTS that housed her was a monitor. About every second, a spike appeared in its readout, marking her slow heartbeat. The person next to her was less fortunate; the readout there was a steady, straight line. A row ahead of her was Austin, still hanging on much like she was. The more Meiru looked around, the more flatlining readouts she saw. The less she wanted to connect bodies to names, the more she seemed to recognize. "Jess..."

"Theirs must have malfunctioned," Laika said. "The PTS was still in the experimental stages - there was a risk of something like this happening."

"I wish." Black explained, "The 'Pulse Transmission System', as you call it, was old hat to my group by the time Sharo managed to figure one out. We thought we knew the dangers, but when Sigma came back, the first thing he did was pass out when he wasn't attached to the system. He was hospitalized for a week after that, hooked up to life support. He didn't look like he would recover. Then, the hospital was attacked by Vava and he vanished. When he showed up again, he was right as rain. We took interest in him because we chalked this whole story up to you suffering adverse effects from your little test run. We wanted to see what the Science Labs got wrong, what your future behavior would be like, and whether you'd have a relapse. If you ever stepped too far out of line, we'd either kill you or slice your brain open and kill you in the process. But considering what was really going on, I doubt there's much of a point."

"That's pretty cold," Meiru said.

"What do you expect? We're the bad guys. Anyway, Sigma got Sharo's brain-link experiment halted after his little adventure, officially because he didn't want anyone else suffering like he did and probably so nobody could figure out that Laika had been replaced with a Net Navi. He turned to us when he wanted more. Everything you see below, every piece of technology in this building, is ours." Black sighed. "I helped develop a lot of programs for brain-link terminals, like the armor you're using right now. I know this thing from the inside out, and there are more safeguards than you can shake a stick at. Nothing save death on the inside - deletion - should be able to kill someone hooked up to a 'PTS'."

Laika turned to face Black's window. "You aren't saying..."

Grimly, the hacker said, "Yeah, I am."

"That's as far as you're going," said a voice from behind them. A dragonfly Irregular, his visored head twitching to the side on occasion before snapping back straight, was hovering in front of the entrance. "My duty is to terminate you." A pair of smaller dragonfly viruses appeared on either side of him.

"Just try!" Roll said as they zipped toward the Net Saviors. "Roll Arrow!" She wasted no time in knocking them off target and away, but another four had taken their place.

"Yammar Option!" The dragonflies started firing down as they flew in formation.

"I bet we can just shoot them off target again," Meiru said. Sure enough, she and Roll easily cleared out the dragonflies before they could hit their marks.

"But we're not hitting that Irregular," Laika said, starting on the next wave. "At least one of us needs to be focusing on him - this can't be the only trick up his sleeve."

"Leave it to me, Laika-sama," Searchman said. "Scope Gun!" His powerful shot sent the green Irregular flying back. He nearly made it out the doorway before a second shot struck him, sending him out of view. The Irregular wasn't running away, though. He charged back into the room, sending out the largest dragonfly swarm yet as he shot toward the Net Saviors. Searchman continued to pound the Irregular with attacks, but he wasn't as easily shaken as his viruses. He kept charging forward even as his visor began to splinter. With his last swarm of dragonflies mostly taken care of, Roll lent one of her arrows to Searchman's next attack. Their combined power was enough to both halt the charge and shatter the visor, revealing the face beneath.

Meiru was startled out of attacking. "Misaki?!"

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"What are Navis to you?"

Enzan was a little startled by the interruption. So far, Laika had been watching in silence for the entire time he and Blues had been fending off Vava. The green-haired man went on, "Can you trust them?"

"It depends on the Navi," Enzan replied honestly. "I would trust Blues with anything. But I wouldn't send a Navi like Gutsman off to do anything complicated, would you? And some Navis are clearly dishonest."

"Like me!" interrupted Punk before diving in for the sixteenth kill with a triumphant yell.

"They're a lot like people, in that respect." He looked over at Laika, scrutinizing him. "What's the point of this?"

"I want to get the opinion of someone else," Laika said. "That's all." Enzan turned his attention back to the Netbattle, sending Blues a Z-Saber just in time to counter a fist to the face. "I believe that Navis should be considered to be the equals of humans."

"Is that what this is all about?" Enzan asked. "Then you should argue for it before your country's political leaders. Performing acts of terrorism and kidnapping people will only hurt your cause. I'm sure the Darkloids would've loved to be acknowledged as the equals of the humans whose oppression they hated, but that would've looked like an admittance of weakness to the people and Navis we had to protect." Enzan watched Laika's face carefully. Its expression didn't change. The man in the chair sat with perfect posture - never fidgeting, rarely blinking. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

Silence was the only response he got.


	11. Explanation

Misaki's face, its lower half swollen, leered at them as the Irregular he'd been turned into reared back for another charge.

"Touch him."

Meiru made a face at Black. "How?"

"On his shoulder or something, I don't care. Eyes front!" Meiru barely dodged in time. While Roll and Searchman sent Misaki reeling back with their Roll Arrow and Scope Gun, Black told them, "I can only stop him with those two, so it's up to you what you want to do."

"We'll cover them," Searchman said. Roll nodded.

"That's what I thought you'd say." Black turned his attention to Laika and Meiru. Misaki was charging to meet them, but they dove out of the way. Now, the Irregular had to choose a target. It was the perfect opportunity for Searchman to fire. While Misaki was reeling back, Laika and Meiru each put a hand on one of Misaki's shoulders. White electricity traveled from their arms into the dragonfly Irregular, paralyzing him. "Keep your hands on him. I'm connected through you." A few minutes of silence ticked by while Black typed away. Meiru supposed it was a good thing her Navi arms didn't get tired; even when Misaki managed to twitch against Black's paralysis, her grip remained firm. "Okay, try letting go." Misaki stayed frozen when Meiru and Laika removed their hands.

"Now that that's taken care of, let me continue with my story. We called our experiment to a halt after we found out what Sigma was up to. Another of our operatives had taken apart an Irregular, analyzed its coding. From there, we pieced it together. At first, it was anyone who worked around him or knew him well enough to suspect anything. Then it was the other soldiers at the Net Savior base - one after another, starting with the ones closest to him and moving down. Somewhere in there was their Chief, leaving Sigma as the only one who could hold power. But all these people would be troublesome to keep down with only him and Vava. He wanted to be able to use all these minds to his advantage, and, well... Men are such brutal beasts, aren't they?"

"But then he started getting ambitious," Meiru realized. "He started going after other Net Saviors, even ones who didn't know him well enough to recognize that something was up."

"Yes. He told us that he enjoyed the challenge, and it left fewer people in the way of his ultimate goal. We thought he was putting our resources in danger."

"In danger? But this only happened because there was already a PTS -"

"One more primitive than ours. To most of the world, linking a human mind to the Internet is a dangerous experiment. But now you know that there are stable brain-link terminals out there. That's a pretty serious compromise of security. You and Enzan calling that conference was the final blow - there was a significant chance he'd be caught, and there was no telling how he'd react. I was assigned to do as much damage control as I could." Dryly, he added, "I seem to be turning into the Swiss Army Knife of operatives - don't know how that happened..."

"You had that much faith in us?" Meiru asked, skeptical. "Even we weren't sure."

"Oh, yeah! You guys are notorious. Well, at least known. But it takes a lot to become known to us." Black neatly changed the subject before Meiru could ask any questions. "Well, we'd better get to it. I think I know everything I need to now."

"That's great," Meiru said sarcastically. "What about us?"

"What about you?" Black asked, unconcerned. "Neither of you have the programming skills to right this. I do. So you should just get going and leave the thinking to me."

"Why should we go anywhere?" Laika asked. "Sakurai can just return to her body from here." Something else seemed to be bothering him, but he kept quiet.

Black saw it and smiled. "Yes? What's the problem with that?"

"I don't see how any of this applies to me. I seem to be completely detached from my body - Sigma's replaced me."

"Yes! But no," Black said. "There's no way to do that. Brains and computers are similar, but not that similar."

"Then how does that explain all of this?" Laika asked, indicating the system and Misaki in front of him. "It's not like Sigma's just been sitting around here this whole time. He's autonomous, one way or another."

Black nodded. "It looks that way, doesn't it? That's what I found strangest about you being here. The PTS doesn't grant you that much control over yourself or the system." Meiru recognized the way Black started rambling from how Hikari-hakase often sounded as he pieced together a programming problem. "If it was really as straightforward as Sigma makes it look, then it should be impossible. Either you'd have picked up a lot of brain damage, rendering your body unusable by anyone, or Sigma wouldn't have the proper controls in him like breathing and otherwise interfacing with your brain, leaving him trapped in your head as you shut down. He needed you alive to keep your body running, and the tidiest way to ensure that was by forcing you into a coma. But just doing that, he wouldn't have been able to do squat with you. So he futzed around with the PTS's program and got it to where your senses and motor control were wired through it to his main dot-EXE program. Like an attack or ability - Laika Lifeline!"

"That's confusing," complained Meiru.

"That's programming around brains for you," Black said. He explained, "Sigma's in your head somewhere - brought to you by the limitless capacity of long-term memory - with the connections and controls you came up with in his hot little hands. It feels to him just like it would've felt to you, and he can rifle through your memories this way to keep up the illusion. And to strike the finishing blow - Meiru-chan, am I right in recalling that Sigma's hat covered those distinctive holes in his head?"

"He can go wireless," Meiru realized. "The Internet's everywhere - he could always link back to you."

"So we've got to get him out," Laika said. "I doubt there's room enough in there for the two of us."

"That's probably true, your personalities considered. But I think he'll get out of there on his own. With the proper shortage of men, that is." Black grinned before turning to something off-screen. "If one of you could apply the magic touch..." Meiru did so. After a minute of typing on Black's end, Misaki's armor shimmered and vanished, leaving him in his bodysuit. As it did, his face narrowed back into its normal proportions.

The glare on his face was replaced by confusion. "What...?" He looked at the four Navis in front of him, bewildered. "Meiru-kun? And... Laika-kun, is that you? What's going on?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Black said. "When you're feeling up to it, there's going to be a program in your PET. Find a port, run it, and plug your Navi out. Then, get out of here. But for right now, you need to just relax." Misaki's body froze, morphed into the words 'LOG OUT', and vanished. To the remaining four, he said, "As for us, we're going Irregular hunting."

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Laika froze in his seat. "They've cracked the code." To the teen on the other end of the room, he growled, "What have that Silver and that idiot friend of yours done now? Did you all plan this?"

Enzan grinned. "That's got to be Meiru." He turned from the still-going Netbattle to see Laika seething. "Well? Thinking about a ceasefire yet?"

But Laika was no longer paying attention to the real world. "My Irregulars... They can convert my Irregulars!" He commanded, "All units, attack!"

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, I'm putting this at the top so you guys see it. (According to my Traffic Stats, there are at least 16 of you out there, unless you're all MI3 using a proxy!) I'm making plans for the summer, and to finalize them I need to do an **interest check!** Here's the deal: next up in the posting order is Falling Stars, the last part of the overarching plot and where we find out what a Silver is, amongst other secrets. A lot happens in Falling Stars, and right now I feel that the ending it's got doesn't address enough of the fallout and leaves too many threads hanging.

I'd like to keep Falling Stars's ending and just write a coda that'll go until it hits a better conclusion. However, planning and writing six-plus chapters of A Certain Person Making Friends and Cleaning Up Messes Despite Himself is not a good use of my time if nobody is interested in seeing it. (It would be closer in tone to the first half of String Theory, if that makes you excited. Less things blowing up, more characters talking to each other.)

So here's the question: **do you want me to flesh out FS's ending and write the coda,** **or**** should I change it to be less dramatic so it'll resolve more neatly?**

Anyway... I think this chapter answered your question, MI3! (At least, I'm pretty sure you're MI3.) I said at the beginning that there were a couple of things that I regret not doing more with, and the idea of the Irregulars being a bunch of humans who've been forced to swap places with Navis was the other one. I think the right person could build a whole series off of that idea, and I get through it in thirteen chapters. :P And I think everyone's quite busy right now, with the end of the school year and all, so you're fine. :)


	12. Termination

"I like this," Black said as Laika got his hands on an Irregular. There was a moment of silence as the jellyfish's form twisted into human shape. Then, another confused human was logged out into his body. "All we have to do is move at a slow crawl and they come right to us!"

"I've got another one!" Meiru called.

"Except I can't keep up and talk at the same time," Black added, face going slack as he concentrated. As the Irregular morphed, he muttered, "There, got it." In the meantime, Roll and Searchman were firing away at the penguin Irregular who had been guarding the Net Savior holding cell. As it reeled, Laika clapped his hands over its head. "And again..."

After the penguin Irregular was spirited away, there was a long wait for the next attacker. Laika asked, "Searchman, can you register any other Navi-like forms?"

The sniper Navi focused. "Three, Laika-sama."

"That'll be Blues and Punk facing off against Vava," Black said. "Now, we're in the farthest reaches of this network, so starting here and working on up should provide maximum pain..."

"Huh?" wondered Meiru.

"Vava's more than tied up, and there's no one else to stop this place from going down. There's only one way Sigma can save his skin if something goes wrong now, so burn down the house!"

The group in the Internet got the picture. "With pleasure," Laika said, opening fire on the control system nearby.

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An alarm sounded above them. Enzan got the feeling that he'd have to yank out those wires and drag Laika's body out himself if there was a fire starting - the older teen had gone nearly catatonic at the sound.

"Blues, can you tell what's going on in there?" he asked.

For once, Punk was courteous to the Net Savior duo. He ensnared Vava in his cable arm and started squeezing around the purple Navi's neck so that Blues could send out a ping to check up on the network. "There are many control panels in this network, Enzan-sama, and they're being systematically destroyed," he reported. "If their real-world counterparts short out violently enough, it could start a fire."

"Precisely," hissed Laika. "Well. I was hoping to keep you despairing, but your little friends have forced my hand. This body has already served all the purpose it could, anyway." He settled back in his chair. His muscles spasmed, fingertips curling tighter with every twitch until they looked like claws; each part of his face seemed to be moving without regard to the rest of it, creating inhuman expressions; if Enzan hadn't suspected it wasn't Laika he'd been talking to from how the young man had behaved before, he knew now.

"Enzan!" Meiru had arrived on the scene, along with Roll, Searchman, a window displaying Black's face, and what had to be the real Laika. "Enzan, that's not Laika! He's -"

"I will introduce myself, thank you." In Navi form, the false Laika looked nothing like the person he'd been trying to impersonate. He was a huge, bald Navi. His face was as handsome as a marble statue's, and his voice had a deep, powerful sound. Most of his bulk was hidden by a red cape. "I am Sigma," he intoned. "I will prove the superiority of Navis by bringing about a new order! The Irregulars will work for the Navis, who will be free to improve this world as they please!"

"I thought so," Enzan said. "If Laika wanted to campaign for Navi-human equality, he wouldn't do it in such a ham-fisted way."

"Besides that, you've pretty much lost," Meiru said. "The Irregulars are all Net Saviors again, we've got you outnumbered, and Laika here isn't exactly going to curl up and go to sleep in that chamber you stuck him in."

"Is that what you think?" He held out one silver-gloved hand, which transformed into a beam saber that crackled with energy. "My plans don't end until I do!" He charged toward the group, sword raised. They were quick to get out of the way, but a pair of torpedo blasts knocked everyone down.

"That's right, Vava!" recalled Punk, getting to his feet. "Almost forgot about 'im!" He threw his shoulder plates in Vava's direction. "Double-Go-Round!"

"We need to split into a group to handle Sigma and a group to keep Vava out of the way," Blues said. "Since Punk and I both have access to Battlechips, I believe we should take on Sigma."

"Yeah, as long as you keep 'im back, Vava's no threat," Punk said, his shoulderplates snapping back into place. The two red-armored Navis turned to face Sigma.

"Assist them as well, Searchman," Laika said. "I think we've got this taken care of." Between Roll's arrows and Meiru's gun blasts, Vava was staying well back. Laika's rifle just made it worse for the purple Navi.

"Yes, Laika-sama." Searchman looked over at the fight against Sigma, then faded from view as his camouflage activated. His teammates had their hands full trying to dodge Sigma's attacks. Despite the caped Navi's large size, he was fast. Just when he had his enemies in the right spot for a crippling blow, a Scope Gun shot hit him in the back. Sigma turned to deal with Searchman.

"Neo Variable, slot-in!"

"Senshahou, slot-in!"

The yellow sword formed on Blues's arm. "Sonicboom!" Searchman stepped aside as Sigma skidded backward. With a yell, Punk added in his blast of cannon fire, turning the skid into a stumble. Now, it was Blues and Punk's turn to dash toward their enemy, Blues' Neo Variable at the ready and Punk receiving a Wide Blade. Sigma grinned, batting Punk away with a quick slash before turning to Blues. He brought his beam saber down, and Blues met it. It was easy to see how powerful the Irregular leader was. Blues' sword was slowly inching downward as Sigma made him hold back more and more of his strength. Just as it seemed Sigma would manage to throw the Neo Variable down and strike Blues, the swordsman quickly sidestepped and aimed his next blow at Sigma's side.

Before it could get far, Sigma's sword was there to block it. "A tiny scratch will not defeat me," he said. "Disappointing." He pushed his sword to his left, knocking Blues's Neo Variable up and away and drawing his own sword across his chest. Then, he brought it back around, hurling his opponent away. With both Navis out of the way, Sigma backed toward the two Navi-humans and Roll, blocking all of Searchman's shots with his sword and letting them fizzle to death there. Quickly, Roll turned to fire her next arrow at Sigma before he could attack Meiru or Laika. But the bulky Navi didn't seem to notice her attacks, and he was heading straight for Meiru. She fired another shot at Vava before focusing on Sigma, backing away from him. Laika fired on the Irregular leader, burning a hole in his cape but not doing much else besides turning his attention to the green-haired Net Savior. "Yes," Sigma said. "It's fitting that I deal with you first!"

Punk raised his shoulderplates. "Don't," Black said. "You've got just as much a chance of hitting an ally as you do of hitting Sigma." But Searchman's precision firing was right on the mark, diverting Sigma's attention.

"An' don't tell me," Punk said. "Now that Sigma's right in the middle of all us, nobody's guns are safe to use but his."

Vava, though forgotten about, was not gone. Before he could pounce on Laika, Roll smacked him backward with her antennae. "I'll deal with him," she told the other two. "You just keep your eyes open!"

Meanwhile, Blues was heading for another clash with Sigma, Samurai Sword at the ready. "This again?" the green-armored Navi asked. "I doubt you can evade my attacks for long."

"Maybe you'd be right," Enzan said as Sigma prepared to take a swipe at Blues. "But I didn't bother wasting Area Steals on Vava." Within seconds, Blues was on Meiru and Laika's side of the field and cutting into Sigma's chest armor. The Navi stumbled back a few steps, but his weight meant that Blues would have a hard time getting him away from the two humans. Meiru took a shot at Sigma for herself; it made him flinch, leaving him open to another of Blues's slashes, but it was clear he wasn't taking a huge amount of damage.

Suddenly, a red blur appeared in Sigma's face. "Hey there!" Punk's Area Steal had given him the advantage he needed to bring his Neo Variable down on Sigma and push him back some more. Sigma brought his sword down on Blues's next strike, knocking him backward. It was clear that the constant fighting, both against Sigma and Vava, was starting to take its toll.

Though Vava had been drawn away from the rest of the battle by Roll, his constant barrage of punches, kicks, and gunfire was starting to overwhelm his opponent. "Wish I had Battlechips," the pink-clad Navi muttered, jumping away from another burst of cannon shots. Vava pounced to meet her where she'd land, but a burst of red energy met him halfway there. "Meiru-chan!"

"I can still lend a hand like this," she said, keeping her gun trained on their opponent. "Let's go!"

"Right!"

Meanwhile, Punk was in no position to attack Sigma. The huge Navi had him under a constant barrage of jabs that left him no room to do much except dodge. But a shot to the head from Searchman actually earned a grunt of pain from Sigma. "There's a reason most Navis have helmets," Punk said as a Volcano Cannon appeared on his hand. At point-blank range like this, the chunk of rock expelled by the miniature volcano on Punk's arm left a dent in Sigma's armor, and the smoke was a convenient way for Punk to disappear from sight. Sigma swiped at the smoke with his sword, the air current he created blowing it away. He located Punk to his side and batted him away.

"Any last words?" asked Sigma, bringing his sword to rest between Punk's eyes.

Punk held up his hand in a shrug. "I did my part." Sigma whirled to face Blues, sword at the ready. It was only when Blues brought his blade down that the bald-headed Navi realized what it was: a Muramasa Blade, more than powered up after all its owner had been through. With one swing, Blues sheared off Sigma's saber hilt. The next blow was crippling, its power hurling Sigma a few feet away.

For Laika, it was like everything else faded away for a moment. There was only him training his rifle on the staggering form of Sigma, his cape tattered from Blues's last blow. In Sigma's eyes was desperation; his dream, coming to an end. For all his talk, it was only now that he'd ever shown anything resembling a human emotion. Laika fired, his shot piercing Sigma through the gem on his head. With a howl of agony, Sigma's terror ended as the Navi dissolved into pixels.

Now, all that was left was Vava, his armor seeming duller now that Sigma was gone. It was obvious that he was weakened; his movement was more erratic than ever. He lurched toward Punk while his shoulder-mounted cannon spat bullets at the others. Punk was unimpressed. "We doin' this the normal way, or are we goin' for overkill?"

"Enh... Sure, why not overkill." Black called, "Yo-yo, triple slot-in!"

"Program Advance: Yo-yo Blade!" From an oversized holster that took up both of Punk's arms came a barrage of spiked yo-yos that ripped Vava apart in seconds. This time, he didn't come back. "Well," Punk said, brushing imaginary dust off his hand and mace, "that settles that."

* * *

**A/N**: And we're just about done! Despite the chapter title, there's one more chapter to go!

Thanks for the advice, Toffee Fox! (also, yay, you're still reading! Glad to hear from you!) I've always felt that keeping the current ending and writing more after it was the right thing to do, so I think I'll set aside some time to start planning!


	13. Denouement

With the fighting over, Meiru and Laika both removed their armor programs. Punk quickly snatched them up as Black teasingly explained, "Now, I can't have you carrying those off to who knows how many people! Those are classified."

"But we know they exist," argued Meiru as Punk plugged out. "How can they be classified when someone could figure out how to replicate them?"

"They'd have to figure it out first," Black pointed out. "And all I can say is good luck with that!" He turned to something else on his screen. Abruptly, Roll and Searchman vanished. "I've returned your Navis to Meiru-chan's PET - I don't want too many things bouncing around in here while I work," he explained. "I'm not doing anything bad, Blues, you can go too! You and Enzan should find the storage room, so Meiru-chan isn't totally lost!" As Blues plugged out, Black added, "Laika, you might want to consider getting yourself a new PET, that old one's a little funny... Is that position comfortable, or do you want to sit?"

"This is fine," he said.

"Good, because you need to stay that way for a while. I need to reset your program to the way it was when you first went through that PTS test. I'm kind of sealing things off - Laika Lifeline needs to go, whatever other odds and ends Sigma shoved in or took out of there... Otherwise, you'll be just as stuck to the PTS as him." His attention shifted to the other side of his screen. Almost absentmindedly, he asked, "So, what are your plans with your new life? Gonna find a bunch of people to boss around?"

"I don't plan on staying Chief of Sharo's Net Savior force," Laika said. "I don't want to have the position because Sigma did - I'd rather earn it for myself."

"Really? I'd have to wonder how happy you'd be with new management." Black's light tone gave way for a moment. "Sorry about the Chief." Laika looked up at the hacker's window, surprised. "It said you were related in the reports." Black ran a hand through his hair. "I should've told Punk to stun the Irregulars or something instead, even if the chances seemed slim."

"I would've done the same thing," Laika said. "You couldn't have known what they were." Even if Black had known, Laika had to wonder if the orders he'd been given had room for that amount of mercy. Considering how much time it had taken to spare so many people, someone else given the mission to 'kill Laika and destroy his base' might not have bothered.

Back to his usual tone, Black decided, "Anyway, that's enough of that! So, what are you going to do with yourself?"

"I'll just be a normal Net Savior. That's always kept me busy, and I'm sure that won't stop now."

"Well, you should come to Japan sometime. I'm sure it'll get crazy enough that you could persuade Chief Whoever to send you over to help for a few weeks. I want to bug you some more..." He grinned into the window as he finished, "Doublemint!"

Laika's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Doublemint?"

Dryly, Meiru said, "He does that a lot."

"We have a very close relationship, as you can tell." Next, Black told Meiru, "Well, this is gonna take a while, so why don't you keep him company?" In an aside to Laika, he added, "If she gets to be too screechy and annoying for you, just tell me so I can get rid of her." Meiru just sighed as Black's window winked out.

"He's really a decent person to know in a pinch. I just don't understand why he feels the need to constantly remind us how bad he is..."

Laika could feel the changes Black was making to his program; it felt like his insides were shifting around. Not painful, but uncomfortable. "You said he was a criminal?"

"It's hard to believe when he's always helping out, right? Don't worry, I don't think he's going to double-cross you. He's got no reason to, as far as I can tell." Meiru explained, "He's part of Nova. It's a syndicate that mostly works in Japan, but I guess they do other stuff as well." She shrugged. "It's funny; they never struck me as being well-equipped enough to furnish something like this. I guess they've been holding out on us. When I think about it, they do seem to come up with new members awfully fast."

Laika felt a particularly nasty jolt as something dropped away. Meiru looked at him with concern. "I'm fine," he reassured her. It was true; now that the initial shock had worn off, he was feeling better than before. "They must have a pretty large base."

"We think it's in one of the more rundown parts of Densan," she said. "But what with everything that's been happening lately, we haven't managed to find it." Laika looked down at the room down below. Sigma's throne room; he remembered seeing it for a moment just before he'd been forced offline. That was probably the eeriest thing of all; it felt like it had only been a few hours ago that he'd been sitting in the PTS chair for the first time. "You look a lot more like yourself when you're sleeping," Meiru noted. "It's a little less strange to imagine you in his - that body."

"It's still going to be strange," he said truthfully. "How much taller am I?" He'd only seen Sigma-as-himself sitting. He certainly looked like he'd grown, but how much was difficult to say from this angle.

"You're really tall," Meiru said. "Way taller than me or Enzan. And not too bad-looking, either! Except for that hair..." She grinned. "Don't look so serious. You'll do fine!"

"I'll have to," Laika said. "It's sink or swim."

"That's life, Doublemint," Black cut in, appearing above the two Net Saviors. "I'm done with you. Your exit's through that white portal thing over there. Get out of here if you want to miss the explosions." His window disappeared again.

"I guess that's it, then. See you on the other side," Meiru said. Her body morphed into the words 'LOG OUT' and vanished. Laika was alone in the throne room network. He looked around at it one last time, thinking. It would take a lot of time to right everything Sigma had made wrong, from removing the ports on his head to figuring out what would happen with the position he currently held. And he was sure those missing years would make for a strange period of adjustment. But it was better than standing still in here. He took a breath and stepped through the portal.

0110100101100100011001010110111001110100011010010111010001111001

"Enzan-san!" Cossack was beaming as the Net Savior stepped out of the truck. On the opposite side, Meiru hopped out. "And it's good to see you safe as well, Meiru-san. Everyone's getting warmed up inside, save you two. Care to join them?"

"In a moment," Enzan said. He got the backseat door while Meiru walked around to join him.

"That's right!" Cossack ran to stand behind the two Net Saviors. "Laika, is that you? How are you doing?"

"Your PTS works perfectly, Doktor Cossack," he reported. The sound of his own voice seemed to surprise him a little.

"Enzan told me so in his e-mail," Cossack said. He didn't seem to care about that as much as he did about the person in front of him. "Are you all right?" he asked, noticing how careful Laika was being while getting out of the car.

"I'll be fine," Laika said, thrusting a hand out for support that Enzan had to duck. He found the door frame a second later, using it to keep himself steady as he got to the ground. "I'm much taller than I was before, so at present I'm a little -"

"Clumsy. Yes. That makes sense." Relieved, the scientist said, "Well, there's someone inside who's looking forward to seeing you." With a grin, he added, "I'm afraid I've been told to inform you that you won't be keeping your position."

"What do you mean?" Laika asked. "I didn't see Chief Malenkov in the Irregular base."

"He said he got into a pretty serious fight with your doppelganger before he was transformed. And since the PTS does a facial scan to use as the Navi face, that's what it copied."

"The one with the bruised face - I remember that one!" gasped Meiru, her face lighting up. "That's amazing, Laika!"

"It is a relief," Laika admitted. "I wasn't looking forward to coming to terms with that."

"Especially not on top of everything else." Meiru turned to Cossack next. "He does look okay now, though, right? I don't think even Laika would've recognized him, he was so beaten up."

"And here I was thinking how much easier it'll be for Laika since Malenkov's still alive," Enzan said.

"That doesn't mean his face wouldn't be a shock!" Meiru pointed out.

Cossack chuckled, "Well, I didn't notice anything major. Maybe a scar or two."

"Oh, good!" Meiru turned back to Laika. "Anyway, we should go in and see everyone!"

"After all, we've got a lot of catching up to do," Enzan added. It was a relatively long way from the car to the exit, and the two Net Saviors stayed close to Laika at first. But as they went on, his strides became more confident, and they reached the door at full speed.

* * *

**A/N:** Here we are at the end of another fic! Hope you've been enjoying these shorter fics while they lasted, because the next one's got over 30 chapters. :P Thanks to MI3 and Toffee Fox, along with all the other readers!

In pertinent news, a decent group of fansubbers is progressing through Stream at a nice clip. (After years of waiting on WPP, it's almost mind-boggling!) While I was writing this fic series and Falling Stars in particular, I tended to work around the lack of subtitles by either extrapolating from what little we thought we knew a few years ago or pretending Stream didn't exist. (The cameos there would've been in Grand Championship had there been subtitles! The proper Synchro Chip for Meiru that I felt I couldn't give her, due to people's wrong assumptions!) I feel like since I'm already putting in the time to write a better resolution to the series, there's no excuse for me not to bring Falling Stars up to date.

This means there will be (once again...) a pause between this part and Falling Stars. After that, depending on how fast I am writing the coda and other bits and pieces, there shouldn't be any more long waits! See you then!


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